SUBURBAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Shen Boy’s will face Troy, Shen Girl’s will take on Saratoga, in Suburban Council Championships
CLIFTON PARK, NY » It was a Shenendehowa sweep at the high school gym Wednesday night as the boy’s and girl’s basketball teams continued their undefeated seasons and marched onto the Suburban Council championship games Friday night.
“What I value is that the kids have a great experience,” said Shen Boy’s Basketball Head Coach Tony Dzikas. “That somehow I have taught them something on the basketball court that as a coach will carry over into other areas of their life. That commitment, team first, loyalty, hard work. That’s what I value. I’ve had a great experience here. I’ve won a lot of games. The resume of the team over the last 15 years is pretty good but what I value are the text messages from former players saying good luck tonight, congratulations on your season. Friday’s game is about the teenagers there not Coach Dzikas.”
The Shen boy’s kicked things off Wednesday with a 53-34 win. The Shen girl’s picked up right where the boys left off with a 84-33 win over Albany High School. In Averill Park it was Robin Chudy’s Blue
Streak’s besting the Averill Park Warriors to move on to the championship game in the girl’s bracket. Troy handled Saratoga on the boy’s side to move onto Shen.
“I am really happy with our defensive effort,” said Shen girl’s head coach Joe Murphy. “Whatever we wanted to do on the defensive end we did. We were all over the place and that led to easy baskets, we shot the ball well inside. Credit the girls but it all started on the defensive side for us.”
Shen was able to utilize a full bench in the 51 point win. For the entirety of the fourth quarter Meghan Huerter, Rylee Carpenter, Bri Carey, and most of the starting unit took a seat and cheered on their teammates. Jillian Huerter joined them a few minutes into the final frame.
“I love team basketball. That’s my favorite type of basketball,” said Meghan Huerter. “I don’t like hero basketball. That’s not what I’m about and that’s not what Shen is about. It’s really nice to sit on the bench and watch our second team and younger players and see them run our offense and see them executing really well on defense and getting stops. It’s really fun to be a part of.”
Meghan Huerter led the Plainsmen with 18 points in the win that included four three-pointers. Behind her was Carpenter with 12.
Shen took a commanding 24-8 lead off the jump in the first quarter that included six different scorers. Huerter fired off three consecutive three’s in a row in the second quarter to strengthen the lead and give Shen the 46-17 lead going into halftime.
Shen’s deadliest asset in the first half was their team play. Huerter was elite from behind the arc and her sister, Jillian, led the transition extremely well, but the passing from one through five on the court kept Albany on their heels the entire time and allowed Shen to control the tempo of the game.
“We always preach sharing the ball and team defense and that was the motto tonight,” said Murphy. “We had to get after it tonight. We were flat on Monday. Tonight we brought it.”
Albany’s leading scorer was Nya Ewans-Edmonds with eight points.
Shen’s Carey scored 11 with a majority of her points coming in the second half as Shen posted 38 more points to push onto the Suburban Council Tournament win.
Shen will get another shot at their rival, Saratoga. Shen got the best of Saratoga back on February 16, 65-53. Shen and Saratoga have competed against each other for last years Section II, Class AA title. Shen has won five of the last seven Section II, Class AA titles. They will not get the chance to officially defend their title this year.
“We will play whoever it doesn’t matter to us. I know they want to play us,” said Murphy. “They’ve been saying that all week that they want to get at us. It’ll be fun to get up and down. Robin [Chudy] does a great job with the kids. It’s a contrast of styles. They’ve got some kids inside, we’ve got kids on the perimeter. We’ll let it ride.”
“They are our rival. We have seen them the past two championships,” said Meghan Huerter. “Going into this it’s the same thing. Even though it’s not called the Section II Championships for us we are going into it with that same mentality. We have to play our basketball and I am really excited to see them and play against our rival.”
Shen Boy’s roll past Nisky, 53-34
Despite trailing 24-17 at halftime the Shen boy’s pulled up their boot straps and allowed just ten points in the second half to clinch the Suburban Council semifinal win over Niskayuna Wednesday.
“We missed a ton of shots to start the game,” said Dzikas. “We knew it was going to be a battle. We played them last week. The first Colonie game we played was vastly different than the second one. Those teams are ready to play you. They just got done playing you. You’ve got a bunch of teenagers who are thing, ‘Hey, I know you won by 15 last time, but it’s going to be harder this time.”
Luke Lavery led Shen with 15 points with Mason Courtney contributing 14 of his own points. Niskayuna’s top scorer was Kenyon Coleman with 14.
Shen scored 27 points in the second half while allowing just ten. Shen made their comeback in the third quarter when they outscored Niskayuna 12-2, erasing the ten point deficit completely.
“It took until half time for them to say, ‘Hey maybe coach knows what he is talking about a little bit,’” said Dzikas. “They did a good job and I am proud of them. They kept battling, they stayed the course. We have a lot of guys that are playing their last game on Friday.”
Shen will now get to face off with Troy for the Suburban Council championship.
Troy, Class A, and Shen, Class AA, played back on February 18 when Shen beat the Flying Horses 6659. Shen has claimed four of the last five Section II, Class AA championships. Troy’s last Section II title was in 2016, in Class A. They won the Class AA sectional in 2013.
“Troy is a great team. I know Rich [Hurley] he is a friend of mine,” said Dzikas. “What I hope is they make it through the game, both teams are healthy, both teams remain healthy and let’s just do battle.”