A long day's journey into night, basketball style

With apologies to Eugene O'Neill, Saturday's six game marathon at Hudson Valley Community College was exactly a long day's journey into night.

The day started with a Class C quarterfinal double-dip. Form held, as Maple Hill defeated Granville, 52-33, and Hoosick Falls beat Canajoharie, 77-58. The Wildcats & Panthers will meet Tuesday afternoon in a twilight game at Cool Insuring Arena (formerly the Glens Falls Civic Center, though still referred to by its former name occasionally on radio) in Glens Falls.

Over in Stillwater, the Class D quarters saw top ranked Oppenheim-Eprathah-St. Johnsville over New Lebanon, 50-38. #2 Germantown downed Northville, 72-59. #3 Fort Ann beat Argyle, 54-48. #5 North Warren upset #4 Hartford, 68-52.

Back at HVCC, the Class AA quarters offered evidence that, aside from two teams outside the league, this division should be rechristened the Suburban Council Invitational, since most of the teams come from the league.

Six years ago, Green Tech, then an upstart program, upset Christian Brothers Academy in the Class AA semifinal at Times-Union Center. I'm not sure if the two teams had met in the postseason between then and now, and if they hadn't, then CBA coach Dave Doemel might have been thinking about revenge at least in the back of his mind.

However, the Eagles came to play, and even though they entered the game with a sub-.500 record, they played like they were on a mission. Kemore Johnson had the hot hand early, but got into foul trouble, and finished with 12 points. Josh Rodriguez had 13. Jordan King got off to a slow start, but sprang to life in the second half to lead the Brothers with 22 points. Drew Signor finished with 19, and CBA avenged their 2013 loss with a tough 62-56 victory.

Second seeded Shenendehowa had similar problems with Columbia. Dylan Ouimette, for example, was flat unconscious from three point range, and finished with a game high 34 points. Joey Alamprese added 12, Frank Rainville had 9, all on three pointers. James Altenberger led Shen with 23 points, and Jake Reinisch added 13, as the Plainsmen eliminated the Blue Devils, 79-69. Colunbia coach Curtis Sankey's penchant for college style coaching with the late timeouts prolonged the proceedings, pushing the remaining games behind schedule.

#3 Saratoga played the lowest scoring game of the day, if not the season. Nate Chudy didn't have his best game, finishing with just 10 points. Aiden Holmes led Saratoga with 11, and Marcus Davis added 8 for the Blue Streaks. Marcus Shelton led Colonie with 16, and Aaron Satin had 8 despite being saddled with foul trouble for most of the second half. Saratoga moves on to play Shen next after slogging to a 41-39 win.

Even though they were the "road" team as the lower seed in the nightcap, LaSalle treated their game with top ranked Bethlehem like it was a de facto home game, since their campus is virtually next door to HVCC. The field house saw its biggest crowd of the day, but, unfortunately, the Cadet offense was largely missing in action. Bethlehem never trailed, but led only by two at 29-27 at the break, and used a 23-5 third quarter to put this game out of reach. Michael Ortale & Erik Salo led all scorers with 19 points. Jake LeClair added 13, and both teams emptied their benches in the fourth quarter. Gabe Lucarelli led LaSalle with 11 points, but that wasn't nearly enough, as Bethlehem moves on, 72-48.

Curiously, while Columbia was called for an administrative technical foul, due to a player wearing a different number than the one listed in the official scorebook and on the program (Rainville wore #1 instead of his customary #11), Colonie, Bethlehem, & LaSalle all had similar issues, and none of them were called for T's. In the Bethlehem-LaSalle game, as noted, the game was well out of reach, and it didn't seem to make a difference in the eyes of the officials.

Thus, the semifinals are now set for Tuesday in Glens Falls. Bethlehem will play CBA next, and the two teams met on the ice earlier tonight in the hockey semifinals at Union College. The defending champion Eagles move on to the finals with a 4-0 win. CBA will play the third place game tomorrow.