High School Fridays: Ichabod Crane @ Lansingburgh (boys' basketball), 2/1/19

Normally, Senior Night is the last home game of the regular season. Lansingburgh boys' basketball coach Eric Loudis had other ideas.

Lansingburgh's last home game is against the top team in the Colonial Council, Schalmont, on Tuesday, so Loudis decided the Knights would focus on the Sabres then, and had Senior Night moved to tonight, with Ichabod Crane in town. The Knights crushed the Riders in Chatham back in December, and tonight looked to be more of the same.

Loudis chose to have all five of his seniors--Trevor Green, Lucas McKenna, Jahad Lewis, Anthony Thompson, & Holden Pokaski---start the game. Green & Lewis have been starters all season, with the others coming off the bench. The occasion aside, nothing really changed, as McKenna, Pokaski, & Thompson saw limited minutes anyway. Green scored the first five points for the hosts, and finished with 20.

Ichabod Crane had just two seniors, and both made sure the Riders stayed in the game as long as possible. Christian Pesano hit a pair of rainbow three-pointers in the third quarter, and finished with 17 points. Donovan Brown added 6. Vinny Tario came off the bench to score 17 for Lansingburgh, as the Knights pulled away in the fourth quarter to prevail, 77-52.

Last season, the Riders were division title contenders themselves, but are locked in the Liberty Division basement. Lansingburgh sits in second place behind Schalmont, which beat Mohonasen on Thursday. The Sabres have a tough road in front of them, as in addition to Lansingburgh, their immediate itinerary includes a certain Suburban Council school from the Collar City..........

That would be Troy High, which ran their league record to 13-0 in dispatching Christian Brothers Academy, 80-69. Latyce Faison returned after missing Tuesday's win over Burnt Hills, and led Troy with 28 points. Nazaire Merritt added 21, Lateef Johnson had 15, and Zaveon Little had 5. Little is wearing Hunter Redden's number, and that is causing some confusion for scorekeepers submitting results to the local press. Jordan King led all scorers with 29 points, while Drew Signor had 18 in a losing effort. Troy & Schalmont will meet in Glens Falls tomorrow as part of the Sunmark Shootout.

Next week, Troy finishes the road trip at Albany before returning to play undefeated Bethlehem, and Lansingburgh follows the Schalmont game with a road finale at LaSalle, which lost tonight to Colonie. The Knights beat the Cadets in North Troy in December.
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Other stuff: Troy's women survived a road rematch vs. Burnt Hills on Thursday night, escaping with a 61-59 win. Troy (7-9 overall, 4-9 Suburban Council) was led by Jenalyse Alarcon with a season high 27 points. Alaina Holmes added 13, and Nadia Brown & Jakaiya Dewer each had 8. The numbers come from Troy's Twitter feed, posted on their website, as the Albany Times-Union credited Alarcon with 25, Holmes with 11, Dewer with 10, and Brown with 9. Someone wasn't paying attention, apparently.

Following Wednesday's hoops double-dip between Shenendehowa & Saratoga, there was a parking lot incident involving students from both schools, which have been traditional rivals for years, and is the second incident in as many weeks involving Suburban Council schools. However, unlike Averill Park & Bethlehem, they waited 'til after the game to address hostilities. The incident is under investigation.

Niskayuna can count itself fortunate their basketball teams didn't have to play at home tonight. The high school has been shut down since Wednesday due to a power outage, and they're hoping to resume a full class schedule on Monday.