By: Aidan Joly
Behind a two-man wrecking crew of Adam Anderson and Brian Hart, Saratoga was able to cruise to a blowout victory.
The Saratoga Blue Streaks defeated the Ballston Spa Scotties on Friday night at Saratoga Springs High School by a score of 74-42.
After being disappointed with their season opener on Tuesday, the Blue Streaks were looking to come in with a different outlook, and they did that behind a strong all-around performance. The first key to this was the combined dominance of Anderson and Hart, who together scored 50 of the team’s 74 points. Anderson had 30, while Hart tacked on another 20.
“It was great. We go at it in practice every single day, and it’s good to see that all of our hard work is paying off,” Hart said.
AJ Lawton supported the duo in terms of scoring, as he hit a pair of threes and ended up with eight overall.
Another key factor was Saratoga’s shooting from behind the three point line. The team went just 2/16 from behind the arc in Tuesday’s win over Mohonasen, but this time they went 8/20, a 40% shooting effort from three-point range.
“I think we have some guys that can shoot it. I thought we had some guys miss shots that I was expecting to go down,” Saratoga head coach Matt Usher said. “I didn’t realize it was that high, but I think we have some guys that can hit shots, and I think 2/16 the other night, I don’t expect that to be the theme throughout the year.”
The third part of the performance was Saratoga’s defense, which only gave up as much as 12 points in a single quarter. They also forced Ballston Spa to turn the ball over quite often, especially in the second half, during which Saratoga outscored Ballston Spa 45-23.
“We like to press and get it a little chaotic, and I think our athleticism is one of our strengths, so we try to make other teams play fast. Whether it leads to turnovers and steals or just gets them playing a little faster than they want, that’s the idea behind some of our pressure,” Usher said.
For Ballston Spa, the only player who reached double figures was Josh Hipwell, who had 13 points. Ryan Salerno had seven, and Ryan Blair tacked on another six for the Scotties.
Ballston Spa falls to 1-1 on the season following the loss. They will return home on Tuesday for a game against Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, hoping to get back over the .500 mark.
Saratoga, who improves to 2-0 on the young season, will play their next two games on the road against Shaker on Tuesday and Colonie next Friday. They return home on Tuesday, Dec. 20, for a match-up against Columbia. That game will begin at 7 PM.