By: Aidan Joly
Coming off the holiday break, Saratoga was looking to start off the calendar year with a victory, and they did that.
The Saratoga Blue Streaks defeated the Spartans of Queensbury on Tuesday evening at Saratoga Springs High School by a final of 61-45 in a non-league matchup.
Saratoga grabbed an early lead to start out the game, but Queensbury was able to keep it close for nearly the entire first half, keeping Saratoga at bay even while Saratoga went on a 15-4 run starting late in the first quarter and stretching to about midway through the second.
Saratoga led by five at the break, but it could have been more as Queensbury hit a quartet of three pointers in the first half.
Fortunately for the Blue Streaks, the defense tightened up in the second half, holding the Spartans to only a pair of three pointers in the second half.
“We switched to zone in the second half, and that definitely helped,” Saratoga head coach Matt Usher said. “We’re going to have to continue to work on some things that we’ve already talked about.”
The offense was sloppy for Saratoga in the first half with the team struggling to score at times, including the first quarter when the Blue Streaks only managed 12 points in the first eight minutes. However, the defense stood tough, as they only lost the lead for a minute in the third quarter when Queensbury was able to hit shots.
Queensbury could only manage a one-point advantage in the third, as Saratoga pulled out to an 11-point lead at the end of the third quarter and would make it a 15-point advantage after AJ Lawton converted on a four-point play midway through the fourth quarter to put the game away.
“I was just happy to see that we did enough in the second half to pull away, hit some shots and get some stops when we needed them,” Usher said.
Offensively, Saratoga was led by Adam Anderson who had 17 points on the night. AJ Lawton and Brian Hart had 10 each.
“We’re trying to get back in the groove of everything and I think we did good, but we can definitely do better,” Anderson said.
Queensbury was led by Jeff VanAnden and Cameron Bleibtrey who had 10 points each. Devin O’Leary tacked on another eight.
For Saratoga, Mark Barry was in the lineup for the first time this season due to injuries. He started the game and scored five points.
“It’ll take him some time to get adjusted to the varsity level and the speed of the game, but he’ll settle in, and he’s going to help us,” Usher said.
Saratoga improves to 5-2 overall on the season, but 4-2 in league play. They will play again on Friday against Troy before returning home on January 10, taking on Albany. That game will start at 7 PM.
Queensbury falls to 3-2 on the year and 3-1 in the league. Their next game will be on Friday, an away game against Schuylerville at 7:30 PM.