FALCONS OUT RUN, OUTLAST BLUE STREAKS, 62-51
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> As much as seemed to be staying within the framework of the Saratoga Springs girls varsity basketball game plan Thursday night, they failed in the second half as Albany stretched out its trip the Spa City remaining undefeated with a 62-51 Suburban Council win for the Falcons.
The first half played out according to the Blue Streaks (6-1) game plan with Albany’s post players picking up early fouls, Saratoga establishing its own inside game, getting the ball to Kayla Lahart early and often for a first quarter and halftime lead, 31-26 as junior Dolly Cairns and senior Kerry Flaherty were having quiet, but effective opening halves.
“We tried to keep them off the foul line, but it was hard,” Albany High Coach Wilmer Lawson said. “You have two of the best guards in the area, hands down, if you leave those two girls open they are going to kill you every night.
“Dolly (Cairns) is hands down one of the best shooters I’ve seen in the Capital District, she put the work in and you have stop her to be able to beat them.”
The Falcons rallied, knotting the score for the first time in the second half on Ahniysha Jackson’s bucket from underneath with five minutes to go in the third, at 33 apiece and pulled ahead for the first time, 34-33 as Jenna Citone hit the
front end of a two-shot foul.
The tide would continue to turn for Albany as Jackson would hit a huge threepointer for a 41- 40 lead with two minutes left before picking up her fourth foul and being relegated to the bench and have the best seat in the house for the Falcons continuing rally.
“This is the second game where (Ahniysha) Jackson had gotten into foul trouble and a couple of our other girls stepped up,” Lawson said. “Jenna Citone comes in a hit a lot of big shots and then Junasia Lanier on the defensive end and distributing the ball, she’s the nucleus of the team and I’m just loving what I’m seeing tonight.”
Saratoga eighth- grader Natasha Chudy would give the Blue Streaks its final lead of the contest, in the opening seconds of the fourth, 44- 43, before the Falcons took over.
Citone hit her second three-pointer of the night for a 46- 44 lead with 7:13 left and Lanier scored again from under the basket, stretching the lead, 48- 44.
Citone hit her third trey of the game coming out of a Falcons time out with 5:04 left followed by Hasijina Gaddy’s bucket from the paint setting up Junasia Lanier’s three-point dagger with 3:14 left handing Albany a 56- 48 lead and putting the Falcons in the driver’s seat.
“We have some pretty good shooters in (Ahniysha) Jackson and Citone, Lanier hits them every now and then as well, but with Jackson and Citone we have three-point weapons as well, so we matched up well with them in the threepoint shots,” Lawson said.
Coming out of the Sara- toga time out Albany slowed downs its offensive role, used up almost every second of the 30 second shot clock as the Blue Streaks couldn’t create a turnover off the offensive set and in frustration, Saratoga Coach Robin Chudy called a timeout with two minutes left.
“I thought would have sort of rallied us a little bit and put us into a scoring mode and see what we could do until she comes back in,” Chudy said. We turned the ball over and they were aggressive.
“They have a couple of really good shooters whowere hot tonight and put the ball in the basket and then it came down to who wanted the ball and who was going to grab rebounds and who was going to take care of the ball.”
Under duress the Blue Streaks were forced to foul the Falcons and their offensive woes continued as Natasha Chudy’s opening bucket stood as the lone successful two-pointer made until sophomore Abby Ray hit a three-pointer with 29 seconds left, but Albany on its way to a seventh-straight win, 62-51.
“We obviously didn’t shoot very well, but Albany is a great team, they are solid from top to bottom, didn’t matter who they subbed in, seemed like they were still able to penetrate and take some outside shots,” Chudy said.
The win was another step in establishing the Falcons as a force to be reckoned with in the Suburban Council.
“We’re just trying to earn some respect. A lot of our girls here are not known as the top players in the area and all that type of stuff,” Lawson said. “We’re just trying to earn some respect and play one game at a time and work on our things that we’re doing wrong and just try to be better every day.”
The loss gave the Blue Streaks an abundance of film to look at and make adjustments, if Saratoga was given the gift of time before the holiday.
“We’d love to have some time to watch and go through that and break it down, but we have to move on,” Chudy said.
Saratoga is on the road for three games over the next eight days, including a road trip to face Our Lady of Lourdes Friday and then a Western road swing at West Genesee Dec. 27 and against Holy Redeemer Dec. 28.
The Blue Streaks open the new year on the road at Burnt Hills Jan. 4 before traveling to take on Niskayuna Jan. 11 before hosting Niskayuna 7 p.m. Jan. 15.
“Albany has a lot of talent, I don’t think we brought our best game tonight and I think our shooting was not the best,” Chudy said. We’ll move on tomorrow and try to fix those things.” @StanHudy on Twitter