February 6, 2023 by John Vilca (’23) by Sorell McIntire (’25)
On Friday, January 27th, the Blue Streaks stepped onto the court looking to take down rival Shaker and continue their climb in the standings with only seven games remaining. Their 73-67 overtime win facilitated their jump to second in the standings, only behind Colonie (who the Blue Streaks face on Tuesday the 31st). Shaker put up a fight throughout the game, always finding a way to keep it close, but big performances from SSHS senior guard Hutton Snyder and junior forward Bryant Savage clinched the win for Toga.
The focus on tempo and pushing the ball up the court was a major contributor to their eventual win. Snyder said, “Our first option is always to beat the defense down, try and score before we have to set up any offense or anything like that. That was one of our main points going into this game because we haven’t been doing as good of a job lately before this game with that.”
Coach Matt Usher agreed that pushing the ball with tempo and getting fast break points was important in the making of a good team. Coach Usher said, “We think that we are the best version of ourselves when we are playing fast and attacking in transition. It’s something from watching tape that we’ve done really well when we get steals and defensive rebounds. When we are taking the ball out of the net after the other team scores, it seems like we’re quick to just walk the ball up the floor and play half court. We talked about it over this break and, to the kids’ credit, they’ve bought in, and it looked a lot better tonight.”
One way Toga was able to get easy fast break points was from their tenacious defense. Halfway through the second quarter, Toga switched from a man defense to a 1-3-1 zone and trapped the ball which led to several turnovers by Shaker. Coach Usher attributed the teams solid defense to the practice and preparation put in to execute the defense in game. He said, “It’s something we’ve done in practice, and it’s been effective for us. It can force some teams to turn the ball over, it can get some other teams out of rhythm offensively. There were some turnovers and easy baskets for us off steals and deflections.”
The team’s success certainly can be attributed to the practice they put in, but also to the players’ mindsets going into the game. One player in particular, Savage, showed during the game how far his practice and work had brought him. In the game, Savage was a force down low. Collecting rebounds, bodying the opposing team’s big man and scoring with ease when he had the ball. When asked what he attributes this to, Savage said, “Coach has helped me post up more. He’s told me to be more confident, get the ball. Then the guys getting me the ball has helped too.”
For Snyder, this game showed just how much practice and confidence can help a player like him. He was hitting threes with confidence and in the clutch all throughout overtime. Snyder knew he was a natural shooter and just needed to stay confident. He said, “I started off the season not shooting good at all. I hit maybe one three in the first couple games, but I just kept shooting. I’ve been a good shooter my whole life so I just had to keep shooting it and recently I’ve been hitting. Shooting well in practice– it carries over to the game. I’m more confident now.”
For both Snyder and Savage, an amazing performance by the rest of the team is not to be taken for granted. One other player who contributed in a big way to this win was junior Rodell Evans. Evans got the toughest assignment of the night on defense, something which isn’t new to him, and succeeded in leading his team on defense to get the win.
Coach Usher spoke more on the contributions of Evans when he said, “Rodell did a great job defensively on their top scorer. I think Rodell is probably our best defender. He gets the toughest matchup every night. He does a lot of little things for us, on both sides of the ball. He did a great job holding their top scorer down and I think he frustrated him and got him off the floor.”
With this win, Toga now sits second in the conference standings with only six games remaining. Toga has real aspirations to win it all this year, and for good reason. Coach Usher said, “I think the league is wide open. There’s a lot of talented teams that can have an upset in the first round of sectionals or make a little run, win a couple games and get up to the final four. We’re hoping to keep getting better so that come sectional time, we’re one of those teams that are peaking and at our best. I think we could lose to anyone, or we could make a nice little run and extend the season. It’s going to be fun to see where we can go.” With an additional win under their belts at the Feruary 3 double-header game against Shen, the team seems stronger than ever moving into sectionals.