Silver Warriors prevail
Niskayuna reels off run in second half to pull away from Averill Park in win
Much of the first quarter Saturday between the Averill Park and Niskayuna boys’ basketball teams involved a struggle to see which total would be highest: turnovers or points. After the first few minutes of the third quarter, Niskayuna became highly efficient on offense and extremely stingy on defense in turning a close contest into a rout.
Niskayuna turned things completely one-sided as it closed the contest on a 33-2 surge to easily record a 62-30 victory over the Warriors in Suburban Council action.
The Silver Warriors prevailed on back-to-back days to open the season at 2-0, a campaign shortened considerably by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I could feel we had a run in us,”
Niskayuna coach Mike Grasso said. “Averill Park is always a great test. They are a tough team, they play physical and they slow you down. They do a lot of great things. Coach ‘Pugs’ (Dave Pugliese) is amazing. We felt like the shots would come if we could find the open guy. We are going to end up knocking them down at some point.”
Seven different players contributed points to the game-ending surge for the Silver Warriors. Niskayuna blew things wide open early in the fourth quarter by knocking down five straight shots, including two 3-pointers by Jack Allen and one by Owen Evans, to extend its lead to 54-30.
“It is insanely satisfying because pretty much all of us can shoot,” said Niskayuna junior standout Gabe Eldaye, who led all scorers with 15 points. “I think we had like 10 3s go in-and-out in the first half. Once they started to fall, it felt really good.”
Niskayuna shot 48 percent overall,
including connecting on 16-of-29 attempts (55.2 percent) after intermission. By comparison, Averill Park (0-1, 0-1) missed all 11 shots it took from the field in the fourth quarter and the visitors connected on just 1-of-17 attempts over the final 13:56.
“We took care of the ball on offense, we rebounded and did not give up any second-chance shots, which was a huge issue for us in the first half,” Grasso said. “We didn’t commit any stupid fouls and really pushed the ball and shared it. That is the key. We shared, got open looks and knocked them down.”
“Shots started falling and we played better defense. We only gave up seven points in the second half,” Eldaye said.
Averill Park was hindered by playing without 6-foot-8 senior center Vinny Carucci, who suffered an injury Friday.
“I will take a big chunk of the blame. We completely ran out of gas,” Pugliese said. “Vinny Carucci got hurt to start practice (Friday), so in eight days, I did not do a good enough job of getting other guys prepared to take his minutes. We had some kids playing minutes they are not accustomed to and weren’t comfortable I think in our stuff. I think we got tired.”
The Warriors were outscored 21-0 in the fourth quarter, finished with 21 turnovers overall and made just 3-of-20 shots in the second half. It was a stark contrast to the first half when there were seven lead changes and five ties as the teams finished tied at 23.
“I thought our defensive energy fell apart,” Pugliese said. “We started to do things we normally don’t do. Each quarter just became worse for us.”
Evans scored 11 points, Allen finished with 10 points and Kenyon Coleman and Darian Parker each chipped in with eight points. Niskayuna’s next game comes Tuesday against Troy.
“Right now, the season is really about our seniors. That is the focus,” Grasso said. “They have been leaders in the program the last two years. We are really excited for what they are able to do right now. The guys that are coming off the bench, we know what they can do and what they are capable of. It just took a little bit of a push to get it going there.
“It is nice. It is very nice to be playing. I am happy for the seniors and the juniors carrying the program forward into next year.”