Albany, Bethlehem advance
TROY — The joyous howls made by every member of the Albany girls’ basketball team coming off the court Monday evening at Hudson Valley Community College could be heard in the parking lot and throughout Troy. No, the Falcons did not repeat as Section II champions against Colonie. This game was a semifinal, but it sure felt like much more than that to Albany’s roster.
Senior star forward Shonyae Edmonds scored 21 of her team’s first 40 points and led four Falcons in double digits as the reigning Section II Class AA champions fought off a determined contingent from Colonie to post an impressive 77-68 victory in front of a raucous audience inside the Mcdonough Sports Complex.
The Falcons (19-3) will next take on No. 2 seed Bethlehem (18-4) Friday evening in the Class AA championship game at HVCC. Game time is 7:45 p.m.
“Colonie is no pushover. They’ve got great players,” Albany coach Decky Lawson said. “Facing (Jayla) Tyler, you have to come to play. Even though we were the No. 1 seed, people were expecting us to lose because they beat us the last time. We didn’t get respect as a No. 1. I am just going to put it out there.”
The game went back and forth through the first 19 minutes as the two teams exchanged the lead 10 times. The player who helped spur a 21-8 run for Albany with three-point shooting was senior Amari Scott-starr. She helped turn a 37-35 deficit into a 56-45 lead.
“It definitely feels great to be back in the final,” Scottstarr said.
“She has definitely been preparing for that moment,” Lawson said of Scott-starr. “She stays in the gym. She is one of those who comes to practice early and leaves late. It paid off tonight.”
In the first semifinal, Shenendehowa senior Bri Carey took a spill on the baseline 27 seconds into the action. She never returned.
Bethlehem, without Carey on the floor, proceeded to go on a 15-4 surge midway through the first quarter before Shen’s Kaleigh Montanez drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 21-13 Eagles.
Receiving scoring from multiple sources, mainly reserve Maya Carpenter (10 of her team-high 13 points in the opening 16 minutes), plus raising the level of their defense in the second stanza, the Plainsmen outscored Bethlehem 13-7 to trim their deficit to 28-26 at intermission.
But the start of the third quarter ultimately proved to be Shen’s undoing as Kaitlyn Robbins and Caroline Davis generated consecutive threepoint plays to cap an 8-0 run to begin the second half and build a 36-26 edge. The best Shen trimmed the deficit to the rest of the way was seven points as Bethlehem secured a 58-40 victory.
Shenendehowa coach Joe Murphy praised his team’s efforts after the team lost its leading scorer and most experienced player in Carey.
“I am super proud,” Murphy said. “Kids like Maya Carpenter stepped up. Gaby Stuart. I am super proud of the effort we had tonight.”