High School Fridays: Bethlehem @ Troy, 2/8/19

It was assumed by many that tonight's game between Bethlehem & Troy, a meeting of division leaders in the Suburban Council, would be closer than it really was.

However, Troy had one thing going against them.

History.

Since entering the Suburban Council in 2015, Troy's basketball teams have never beaten Bethlehem. In fact, the two schools first met in regular season play in 2014 when Troy was an independent. Hence, Troy was 0-4 vs. the Eagles going into this heavyweight clash. The Eagles were without senior guard Jakob LeClair, still serving a four game suspension for fighting vs. Averill Park two weeks ago. However, the combination of roster depth and A. G. Irons' wall-to-wall pressure defense, coupled with some questionable officiating decisions, tipped the scales in favor of the Blue division leaders.

Three different times in the game, what should've been offensive fouls against the Eagles went the other way. Twice in the first half, Xavier Wakefield got away with charges, with the fouls going against Troy's Jay-Quan Moore in at least one instance. In the second half, Erik Salo got the benefit of a similar misread. What that says to me is that there is a pecking order not only in the league but in Section II as well. Troy is in its 4th season in the Suburban Council. Even though they've beaten everyone else, there's still the small matter of being a Class A school going up against the top Class AA team in the league. Remember when Bethlehem beat Lansingburgh on December 1? Same deal, though 'Burgh is a Class B school, and also had to deal with some dubious officiating.

Bethlehem pulled a little decoy action in pre-game introductions. Senior guard Michael Mullen was announced as a starter, but when tip-off came, he was abruptly replaced by fellow senior Justin Barnes, who finished with 10 points. Troy, for whatever reason, didn't have their lineup introduced, probably due to time constraints, but I guess we'll never know. Job 1 for Troy's defense was to stop Bethlehem's leading scorer, Michael Ortale, but that didn't happen. Ortale finished with 23 points for the second straight game. Wakefield had 10, and Salo had 16. Nazaire Merritt heated up in the second half, and had a game high 28 points after being ice cold for most of the first half. Latyce Faison finished with 21.

Most of the fans streamed for the exits with about three minutes left in the game. Bethlehem led by as much as 20, but won by 13, 87-74, clinching the Blue division title for the second time in three years. The Eagles finish the regular season at home against CBA on Tuesday, while Troy entertains Schenectady.
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Bethlehem also won the women's game in a low scoring affair, 45-36. Ava LeClair, Jakob's sister, had a game high 12 points. Jakaiya Dewer led Troy with 10. The Lady Horses (7-11 overall, 4-11 Suburban Council) return home tomorrow to play Kingston before visiting Schenectady on Tuesday.
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Schalmont will not run the table in the Colonial Council. The Sabres dropped an overtime decision to LaSalle, 80-69, on Thursday night, as they couldn't complete the Collar City Hat Trick of playing three of the city's four high school teams in the space of a week. Sean DeSharnais led LaSalle with 21 points. Shane O'Dell led Schalmont with 27. The result of tonight's game between LaSalle & Lansingburgh has not been reported as of press time.