TROY — The battle for Albany high school basketball supremacy and bragging rights will take place for the first time in six years Tuesday night in Glens Falls.
Green Tech, the number one seed, secured themselves this Saturday night, overcoming a slow start in a 69-44 win over Bethlehem in the Class AA Section II quarterfinals at Hudson Valley Community College.
That set up a semifinal showdown between the Eagles (17-2) and fifth-seeded Albany High, who toppled No. 4 Shenendehowa 63-59 earlier on Saturday. The game will take place at 8 p.m. in the Cool Insuring Arena.
“It’s definitely a good game for the community,” Green Tech coach DJ Jones said. “I don’t think Green Tech and Albany have met since 2016. It’s a shame we had to travel to Glens Falls. I think we would sell the MVP (Arena).
“It’s going to be a great game. Albany had a great year. A lot of kids know each other, so they have to put that aside and realize that if you take an L on this team, you have to see them in the community.
Dayshawn Watson scored 17 points, Zaveon Little 16 and Victor Pharr 15 to lead Tech’s offense, which shot 51 percent for the game and 60 in the second half. Pharr added seven assists.
“A couple of them played on my (AAU) team,” said Watson, who also had a game-high nine rebounds, referring to the Albany players. “What’s interesting about them is that they have a lot of great bigs too. They have big ones that can stretch the floor. They also have good guards, like Isaiah (Austin). It will be a good game. »
Before they could earn a ticket to the semi-finals, the Eagles of Green Tech had to overtake the Bethlehem Eagles, and it was no easy task at first.
Bethlehem (7-14), the ninth seed, spotted Green Tech a 7-0 advantage but came back to take a three-point lead two minutes before halftime. Tech, who hadn’t played since Feb. 14, scored the final six points of the second quarter to take a 28-25 lead at the break.
“I felt like we had a pretty good game plan,” said Bethlehem coach AG Irons. “We knew we were going to give up something, and we decided to give up all three more than anything else (Tech was 5 for 21 on 3-pointers). It’s a bigger field, and we were trying to get back on defense to make sure we shut down the transition stuff. We have done a good job. The second half, straight away, they were obviously trying to push the ball a bit harder.
Green Tech beat Bethlehem 22-7 in the third quarter, punctuated by Zhaji Williams’ layup – the team’s third possession shot – at the buzzer.
“It’s not that we played better,” Watson said of the second half, “but we played harder, played with more intensity, we were more aggressive. »
The top seeds, who had 11 interceptions in the game, extended their opponent’s misery early in the fourth quarter. On back-to-back possessions, after Green Tech returned the ball in the forecourt, Pharr stole the ball and converted layups. Little wrapped up an 8-0 run with a 3-pointer, extending Tech’s lead to 58-37.
“They stuck together,” said Jones, who was admittedly suspicious after watching second-seeded Niskayuna lose in the match just before his match. “They were disinterested and bought their defence. We just ran our stuff in the second half. Above all, we had a lot of good shots. We focused mainly on lay-ups and uncontested shots, and it’s a good offense.
