Saratoga top seed in AA boys tourney

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » For the No. 12 ranked team in New York State and a squad in the midst of an 18-game winning streak, for the Saratoga Springs boys basketball team the plan is a simple one after being named the No 1 seed in the Class AA tournament -- just keep on winning.

“We’re going to touch on the fact that we’ve done some good things, but this is the beginning of a new season,” Saratoga Springs coach Matt Usher said. “This is the post-season; we’d like to start a new streak. We’d like to improve on where we are right now and continue to win games and start our next streak one game at a time.”

To the winner go the spoils and a lengthy break between scheduled contests at the No. 1 Blue Streaks and No. 2 Shenendehowa head directly to Hudson Valley Community College next Saturday and await the winners of two preliminary contests. Saratoga will face the winner of No. 9 LaSalle at No. 8 Ballston Spa next Wednesday at 7 p.m. and the Plainsmen will face the winner of No. 10 Green Tech at No. 7 Shaker High School.

After Tuesday’s win over Shaker, Usher was ready for the wait.

“We’ve scheduled a couple scrimmages just to see some

new faces and try to stay sharp,” Usher said. “We’re going to structure the schedule where we try to keep these guys fresh, get a lot of shots up and luckily we have a deep team where our guys coming off the bench can really push our starters.

“These guys work very hard at practice, so hopefully we come out of this little break better than we are right now.”

No. 3 Christian Brothers Academy will host No. 14 Catholic Central on Feb. 21 as No. 6 Bethlehem hosts No. 11 Columbia.

Amsterdam received the No. 1 seed in Class A and will face the winner of No. 9 Bishop Maginn at No. 8 Burnt Hills while No. 3 Lansingburgh has a showdown with No. 6 Averill Park, Sunday, Feb. 25 at Hudson Valley Community College.

The Class B 16-team bracket was completely filled as Mekeel Christian received the No. 1 seed with No. 4 Watervliet hosting No. 13 Taconic Hills Tuesday, Feb. 20, No. 7 Schuylerville hosting No. 10 Voorheesville, No. 11 Mechanicville traveling to No. 6 Hudson and No. 15 Tamarac traveling to No. 2 Glens Falls.

Undefeated and No. 1 state ranked Lake George earned a bye in the 22-team Class C bracket released Wednesday. No. 2 Hoosick Falls and No. 6 Saratoga Central Catholic also earned byes awaiting the outcome of the six preliminary contests set for Friday night. No. 16 Galway hosts NO. 17 Hoosic Valley, No. 15 Hadley-Luzerne hosts No. 18 Corinth, No. 19 Waterford travels to No. 14 Mayfield and No. 20 Rensselaer travels to No. 13 Middleburgh. No. 8 Greenwich hosts No. 9 Stillwater, Tuesday Feb. 20.

For a complete look at the Section II boys playoff brackets visit our web-site.