Shen Boy’s and Girl’s claim Suburban Council titles Friday night
In a normal season ending the basketball season with a win would mean a New York State title and a New York Federation win.
However, this season, all a season ending win means is a Suburban Council Championship for both the boy’s and girl’s basketball teams at Shenendehowa High School.
Friday night the Shen girl’s kicked the festivities off with a 7537 win over Saratoga before the Shen boy’s survived a nail biter and claimed their own Suburban Council win with a 57-54 victory over Troy.
Jillian and Meghan Huerter led the way for the Shen girl’s offensively. Jillian finished with 21 points while Meghan totaled 17. Abby Ray led Saratoga with 13 points.
Shen took the lead off the jump in the first quarter and never looked back. The Plainsmen led 35-20 at halftime and eventually strengthened their lead in the second half scoring 40 more points en route to the Suburban Council Championship.
“We’ve been so close the last four years so it was definitely hard and emotional toward the end. We were excited we got to play this season but it’s a bitter
sweet day,” said Rylee Carpenter. “I feel like in January it was confusing and we didn’t know what we were going to do. Now we are done with it and it’s crazy. We didn’t think we would be here and it’s something we appreciate.”
Shen graduates a senior group that includes Meghan Huerter, Carpenter (who scored 14 points in the win), Sam Lee (two points), and Jenna Slader.
“We’ve all been together since we were pretty young and playing basketball,” said Carpenter. “Every senior on this team is super talented and I can’t wait to see what each one of us gets to do in the future.”
“I started playing with Riley, Sam, Jill, and Jenna in fourth grade. We played Clifton Park CYO together and AAU together, but I think the core of Sam, Riley, Jill, and I have played together season after season. We have never left each other,” said Meghan Huerter on the senior group. “We have that connection on the floor that no team has. I know Riley’s strengths and weaknesses, I know Sam’s, I know Jill’s.”
Following the girl’s win, the boy’s took the court in a game that would eventually be decided in the final two minutes.
“I love coaching this team. They are what is right with high school athletics,” said Shen Boy’s Head Coach Tony Dzikas. “They are a team first group of kids and what I saw tonight was a group that didn’t care who scored as long as Shen scored.”
Shen led 22-20 going into halftime on the back on strong shooting from the perimeter and a group defensive effort that was able to suppress several Troy chances down the stretch.
“Troy did a great job, Coach Hurley did a great job of taking stuff away from us,” said Dzikas. “He took shots away from guys that usually have certain types of shots. We had other guys step up and gutted it out and that’s what champions do.”
Shen looked as if they would continue suppressing all of Troy’s chances until a full court shot by Troy’s Nasir Dawud-Soto kept the Flying Horses within three but also gave them a big momentum push into the final quarter.
“You always breathe a sigh of relief when you are up and the buzzer goes off,” said Dzikas on if the mounted Troy pressure made him anxious. “They scrapped. They were going to play the entire 32 minutes and we were under no delusion that they were going to stop with two and a half minutes left.”
With two minutes left in the fourth quarter Josh Rodriguez hit a three pointer for Troy that once again pulled them to within three points. After trading layups, Shen’s Mason Courtney nailed two free throws that put Shen up five. Troy’s Shamdo Caldwell responded with a layup and an and-one with 25 seconds remaining. With the chance to pull Troy to with two, Caldwell missed the free throw and DawudSoto picked up the rebound and a put-back, bringing the Flying Horses to within one at 55-54.
“I wouldn’t say stressed. I got more amped up and got more excited,” said Courtney. “I always think that if we keep playing our game of basketball the shots will fall and big guys will step up to make big plays.”
Courtney finished with 17 points while Andrew Martin added clutch points down the stretch to total 11 on the night. Rodriguez led Troy with 15 points.
Courtney down the stretch hit two free throws again and a last stitch chance by Troy was suppressed as Devin Dzikas tied up the loose ball and officially clinched the win for Shen.
“We have a lot of guys that can make shots and everybody came down and played good in that game,” said Devin. “We didn’t want them to get a three with Rodriguez, he’s a great player so we didn’t want to give him the open shot. We wanted to get the rebound and hold it because we knew they had to foul us.”
It’s easy to speculate but as both Shen teams finish undefeated it begs the question: how far would the Shen basketball teams have gone if there was a full 2020-21 season with sectionals and a state tournament.
“This is a team that I was excited for to play any games with because I knew we were going to be talented,” said Carpenter. “Every girl on this team brings something to the table and when you put that together and work together it’s something that is exciting and definitely would have been fun to have a normal season.”
“I’m not sure we would have lost to anybody,” joked Devin Dzikas. “I’m not sure. We just play who we play on the schedule and we are happy we got a game. We just want to play.”