Niskayuna Basketball Defeated in Sectionals

It’s that time of year again: The Section II Basketball playoffs are upon us, and unfortunately both the boys and girls teams' runs were cut short in dramatic and heartbreaking games that came down to the final possessions. Both teams fought hard, but it just barely wasn’t enough against some of the best teams in Section II. Despite their seasons being cut short of their goal, both the boys and girls teams should be proud of their accomplishments this season.

The boys team, despite being neck and neck with nearly every team they’ve played against this year, had a difficult draw in the tournament. The Silver Warriors finished the regular season at 10-10, and were the 13th seed out of 14 teams in Class AA. They had to play at Bethlehem, who defeated them by 14 this season. One of the only teams that beat Niskayuna by a large margin this season, Bethlehem was a powerful team to go up against, and it was proven in their matchup. To start the game, Niskayuna was ferocious on defense and took good shots to start the game, taking an 8-0 lead quickly in the first quarter. But after that, it was all Bethlehem, as they scored 21 points before the end of the half. Their defense was also stellar, not allowing a single Niskayuna bucket other than a single foul shot. In the second half, Niskayuna cut the lead, led by an incredible performance by Sam Booth. A 3-pointer from sharpshooter Ethan Gilson with 19 seconds left tied the game at 38 all, sending the game to overtime. In overtime, it looked like the Silver Warriors had the game won. Niskayuna had a 46-42 advantage in the extra 4-minute period, led by 2 clutch threes by Sam Booth. But Logan Yohe of the Eagles answered with a 3-pointer of his own. Then a few plays later Bethlehem’s Caden Bernardo rebounded a missed shot from the Eagles and was fouled, leading to 2 foul shots. He was able to knock down the first to tie the game at 46-46 with 14.3 seconds left. Bernardo missed the second shot, but unfortunately the Eagles were able to retrieve the rebound. Logan Yohe had an open shot but missed it, and with seconds left Bethlehem’s Cam LaClair secured the ball and put up a buzzer beating shot off the backboard to win the game 48-46. This loss was heartbreaking for the Silver Warriors, who had given their all in the game. Coach Mike Grasso said after that “regardless of seed, those were two very good programs going at it. I just told my guys that was a Section II Class AA semifinal game however you slice it. I think we are two of the best four teams in AA, and I thought we were in a good spot. At some point, it doesn't matter because of the balance, you are going to play a good team no matter what.” This was also the last ride for seniors Sam Booth, Tristan Adrian, Saif Chowdrey, Shane Bracken, and Owen Rutnik. The five were honored on senior night in their last regular season game against Averill Park, whilst powering Niskayuna to victory. Unfortunately they couldn’t end the year on a victory like that one, but they will look back and remember all the successes over their high school years.

On the other hand, the Niskayuna girls finished the regular season with an 11-9 record, clinching the 6th seed in the bracket. They had to play Shenendehowa in the first game of the tournament. Shen has built another skilled team this year, beating Niskayuna early in the season 56-50. But the Silver Warriors have grown and improved since the start of the year, and they wanted to show that they had what it takes. The Warriors were on a nice streak at the end of the season, and they sure did carry that momentum and energy into their Sectional game. Despite being up by as much as 13 during the first half, the Plainsmen saw their lead dwindle down to only 26-24 by halftime. As Coach Sarah Neely said, “That’s the way we’ve played all season. We don’t even look at the scoreboard. These girls, it doesn’t matter what the score is, they fight until the end. They did that again tonight.” Both teams were neck and neck with each other in the third quarter, and by the start of the 4th quarter, both teams were knotted at 40 apiece. Niskayuna took its first lead since the first quarter on a putback from Rebecca Schmidt, giving the Silver Warriors a 49-48 advantage late in the game. But with 36.7 seconds left, Shen trapped Schmidt by the baseline and forced a turnover which led to a layup by Shen’s Cam Wilders, who didn’t have a single basket up until that point. Shen’s aggressiveness on defense eventually led to their victory, as they forced 3 stops in the final 30 seconds. Nisky’s Jackie Reffelt hit a 3 point shot at the very end of the game, but it was too late as the Silver Warriors fell 56-54. She led the team with 20 points, but it unfortunately wasn’t enough to get the important win. This was the final game for seniors Kathleen Birmingham, Ryan Famolaro, Aiylin Rutnik, and Jackie Reffelt. Their presence both on and off the court will be missed by their teammates.

Although both teams suffered agonizing and heart-wrenching defeats in their most important games of the year, that does not diminish the successes they have had over the course of the 2022-23 season. The boys team had victories over 5th seed Green Tech and 2nd seed CBA in the regular season, who have both made it to the Class AA championship. Despite the amount of losses both Nisky teams had, they were all very close games. There have been a lot of accomplishments and big wins to celebrate over the course of the year. There is so much to take away and learn from this basketball season, and next year some of these younger players can step into the role left open by departing seniors, and hopefully win a championship.