January 17, 2023 by Cruz Campbell (’25)
On Tuesday, January 10th, the Saratoga girls varsity team improved their record to 7-5 with a 62-53 win over Niskayuna. Senior and Lafayette commit #14 Natasha Chudy believes that the team is definitely moving in the right direction, saying, “we played great tonight. We had good ball movement, which is something we need to continue to do.”
Throughout the course of the game, Toga kept a double-digit lead with great post work from Chudy, who finished with a 22-point, 15-rebound, and 10-assist triple-double, along with junior #15 Carly Wise who had an excellent 20 points and 12 rebounds. Niskayuna kept the game competitive with solid shooting from #10 Hawa Equiza, and a press defense in the 4th quarter that brought the game within single digits, but the ball movement and offensive rebounds from The Blue Streaks proved to be the deciding factors of the game.
With both the Saratoga boys and girls basketball programs having winning records so far, the excitement and anticipation from the fans is high and the energy at the games has been great. One student, in reference to the direction of the girls’ team, shouted, “straight to the state championships, nothing’s stopping them!”
Coach Chudy says the energy has been awesome this season, and they used that to get another win on Friday at Columbia High School. Chudy said, “we had great ball movement, solid defense, and we were tough on the boards. I think we need to keep working on keeping our calm under pressure, but besides that, the team is looking great.”