Waynesword on Hoop, Early Feb. 2008
I’ve watched a lot of high school games for the past several years.
I like to pay attention to warm-ups, when other spectators are talking or
munching down concession stand food or reading tabloids…I’m not saying I’m a scout, but I am a keen observer.
You can tell from warm-ups who’s smooth and who’s stiff—which
kids float to the hoop and which one’s labor to overcome gravity—which
ones stroke it and which ones chuck it—which ones posture and strut vs.
which ones really have it?
A NIGHT IN THE SUBURBAN COUNCIL…
Jan. 29, Clifton Park: Guilderland visits Shenendehowa—
I hadn’t seen Brett Marfurt or his Guilderland team play in his varsity career over the past three seasons, and that was way overdue, especially considering that he’ll be matriculating to Colgate University. where I spent a few pleasant years myself in the mid-70’s. It was well worth the 20 mile trip with my daughter on an off-night to catch the Dutchmen play Shen’s Plainsmen at their Clifton Park mega-campus.
Coach Ron Osinski’s Guilderland team showed me in a definitive fashion why they are the class of the Suburban this year. This team might be deeper than the team he put on the floor in 2004 when Steve D’Agostino was their star player, when they beat a great Schenectady team on their way to a stellar runner-up showing in that year’s AA Sectional Finals against CBA. This year’s team has lost only to the two kingpins of the area—Bishop Maginn and CBA. Shen has a decent though unspectacular team—something like 8-3 in the league at the time of this game--but on this night they were overmatched from the start.
If I hadn’t known Marfurt’s reputation, I would’ve thought Andrew Smith was Guilderland’s star D-1 player in the first half, but football is supposed to be his primary sport. He repeatedly harassed ball handlers out front, forcing steals and scoring off the break. He shot 7 of 9 for the half, including 2 of 4 from 3-pt. land for 17 points in the first half. Marfurt only had 6 at that juncture, but his time was yet to come. The other player who started out hot was Dan Gejay, stroking his first four shots that night in the first quarter, a lefty with a deadly mid-range game. He is listed at 6’5” in last year’s Section 2 program, but is extremely thin, and yet a tenacious rebounder. Marfurt is a broad-shouldered 6’4” and Smith a muscular 6’3”, so even though they give the impression that they have “no big man”—they seem to be able to bang with anyone. Their strongest inside starter may be Jonathon Terry, 6’2” or 6’3” at most, but also a good rebounder and defender. The fifth starter is Kevin Kost-- another junior-- a guard who could drop the occasional three, but also made some of the slickest, quickest passes I’ve seen this season. In the third quarter alone I counted five assists by Kost, including two with exclamation points, and I counted at least seven overall.
But for the most part the third quarter belonged to Brett Marfurt.
Guilderland had a 39-24 lead at the half and after a rousing half-time performance by Shen’s student population—with close to a hundred
performers on the floor augmenting the cheerleaders—the crowd was primed for a comeback. But Marfurt & Co. put a quick end to that idea. Marfurt on a breakaway hit a three-pt. play, and Kost drilled two inside passes to Terry for hoops. Marfurt drained a turnaround 3. Smith hit 2 free throws and another bucket. Marfurt rebounded a Gejay miss for a putback 2, and had another blazing break for a hoop and a free throw- the latter, his only miss of the quarter. When he finished the stanza with a bottomed-out 3 off a screen beyond the key, it was obvious how dominant he was in this game, and why he was a legit D-1 performer—13 points in the quarter for him, and 29 for the team made the game a blow-out. Big man Paul Booker came off the bench to nail a couple of hoops to show that they had some extra size if needed. The Dutchmen also had a cagey back-up guard named Mannarino, and another rebounder named Steven Anderson, and looked to be at least 8 deep.
I left after the third quarter with Guilderland up by 30 and the senior stars already on the bench. I noted that the game ended up at about a twenty-point spread, so Shen must have come on a bit to save face at the end. I was thinking that Shen might be demoralized by such a resounding defeat at home, but then within the same week was surprised to see that they had turned around and beaten Colonie High in a close game—which shows how unpredictable local high school hoop can be.
Similarly, when I was ready to anoint Guilderland the best Suburban team by far in the area, they were taken to overtime by Bethlehem in a high-scoring affair that ended up in the mid-80’s. In that one Marfurt scored 29, and took over in overtime, according to the T-U page. Bethlehem remains a dangerous sleeper team that I have not seen yet as the Sectionals approach, but I have to believe that Marfurt’s team is the only Suburban Council team that plays an up-tempo offense and ferocious man-to-man defense which puts them in the same category with the best teams in the Big 10, and rightfully a third seed behind Maginn and CBA in Class AA ball from Section 2.
***
RANDOM NOTES & COMPARATIVE SCORES…
Since the above game, a lot has transpired in the two week run to the end of the regular season. Among other things, the Shen team I saw get routed on their home floor, played Guilderland much tougher the second time around roughly ten days later, losing only by 5, 74-69, at Guilderland’s own gym (2/7). I noted that one of the Dutchmen’s key players, Dan Gejay, was not in the box score that day, if that might be part of the reason. Two days after that, Shen just barely beat Class A Suburban School Mohonasen, 62-59 – a team with a mediocre 11-9 overall record. Mohonasen’s chief claim to fame this year was in beating Bishop Gibbons in a Winter Tournament back in late December, 67-63. While both of those teams are from Class A, Gibbons tied for third with Catholic Central in the Big 10, and were not really expecting to lose to their cross-town rival Mohon this year. Rumor has it that BG’s star guard Brian Hamor was sick and not up to par that day, so look for revenge if Gibbons gets a shot at Mohonasen in the Class A Sectionals…on their way to a match-up with Albany Academy that I would pay top dollar to see. Bishop Gibbons has proven nasty on their home floor, securing the tie for 3rd place with a win against CCHS at home, 74-70, on Feb. 5th. And in the final game of the league season, Bishop Gibbons delivered a scare to the mighty Brothers of CBA by running out to a 21-9 first quarter lead, leading by 7 late in the 4th quarter, and losing only in the last seconds of the game, 62-60 (2/12). Were it not for the heroics of Malcolm Austin, who hit 29 points, including 4 threes that night, CBA would’ve bitten the dust against a ND/BG team which typically puts at least 4 players in double figures and plays a very cohesive game for excellent coach Garry Horne.
They will be a great match-up for the heralded Albany Academy team, which just concluded an undefeated season in the Colonial Council, and came very close to pulling a massive upset over #1 Ranked Class A School Peekskill—a game in which I was told Academy was ahead 99% of the game. This kind of thing, along with Bishop Maginn’s appearances in NYC games early in the fall season, begins to prove to people—and in particular, downstate hoop snobs—that Section 2 Hoop is close to be on par with elite city teams from the Metropolitan area codes. As of this writing, Bishop Maginn is ranked 4th in state for AA Schools, and Albany Academy is still 2nd, I believe. Anybody else from Section 2 that plays either of those two teams close has something to brag about.
DID SOMEBODY SAY SCHENECTADY CHRISTIAN COULD COMPETE IN THE BIG 10???
I know that blogs are by their very nature democratic—and all variety of opinions are allowed, but as I was reading the Comments section on Kevin Whitaker’s T-U Blog a couple of weeks ago, I noted some opinions I thought were a bit whack’ocratic… namely someone saying that the above team, from a dominant CC school with a mascot called a Falcon, could compete against the lower-echelon teams in the Big 10 & the Suburban—at least with this year’s team. Anyone who says that—I have to believe they’ve never really seen a Big 10 game.
I don’t see enough of the lower-level Suburban teams to defend their reputation, but I would put my money on any of them to beat Schenectady Christian by ten points or more, now that I’ve seen the latter in action. That said, I’m still admitting they were impressive… at least in the second half.
At Saratoga Springs High on Feb. 9th I happened to be free to check out Saratoga Catholic play against those Christian Falcons, and in the first half, shortly after I got there, the local Class B school was pasting the Schenectady Christian team. The O’Rourke brothers— senior guard Patrick, in the Top 10 in area scoring at over 20 a game, and junior guard Kevin, a killer on the break—were running rampant on the Falcons, and strongman senior Ryan Knotek was having his way inside. Tucker Carlson was hitting nifty baseline shots, and their role players were all chipping in. They were ahead by 13 at the halfway mark, 40-27, and if they kept up that pace, I would’ve been greatly impressed.
But Jake Bowman, the coach’s son from Schenectady Christian, took over the game right away in the 3rd quarter, putting on a show of his own with tough pull-up jumpers and inside scoring and all-out tenacious hustle plays. Complemented by the dagger three-ball shooting of left-hander Brian Bishop, the Falcons cruised full-throttle back into the game with the suddenly cold-shooting Saints of Saratoga. A questionable charging call on a made-hoop by the younger O’Rourke seemed to turn the tide in the Falcon’s favor, and they hit clutch foul shots whereas the Saints faltered in that crucial department, in the 4th quarter especially. With such a dominant first half, it seemed unjust that Saratoga Catholic should lose, and I have a feeling they might win a rematch—but it ended as a 4 point loss for the Class B team by the CC boys, who were fired up by a traveling band of supporters, full of revival church-quality stomping and fervor, who no doubt helped the Falcons to this victory.
As for whether I was convinced that either team could compete successfully in the Suburban Council, much less the Big 10—in a word, NO.
Jake Bowman, by himself, is good enough to compete somewhere for a starting spot on a Big 10 or Suburban team, and Brian Bishop might earn a reserve role in the Big 10, or maybe start somewhere on a Suburban team, but overall—a school like Schenectady Christian would not have the size, the depth, or the overall savvy to win ONE GAME in the Big 10, or more than a couple in the Suburban. It just wouldn’t happen. Their guards have not seen a press that would prepare them, and the game would be over in minutes. Put them on the floor with Amsterdam, LaSalle, or Albany High… and they would feel like they were playing a college team in comparison—there’s just that much difference in local leagues, in my humble but experienced opinion.
Similarly, I respect the individual ballsiness and swagger of the O’Rourke brothers of Saratoga Catholic, and feel each of them could earn a starting nod on many of the Suburban Council teams, and believe that Ryan Knotek would be a good banger on that level—but honestly, imagining how they would compete in the Big 10 is a different matter altogether, and none of them would be taking over games against the lower echelon teams in this year’s league, much less the middle or top teams. A 20 pt. scorer in the WAC, the Foothills, the Wasaren, or the Colonial Council would become a 14 pt. scorer at best in the Big 10. For either of the teams I saw that night, their WAC competition is just not a good match for anything the best urban teams would bring against them, so whoever suggested that, on behalf of Schenectady Christian’s stellar season, should consider themselves lucky not to have to back up that conjecture with an actual game.
PARITY IN THE BIG 10…OR SOMETHING CLOSE TO IT
Aside from Bishop Maginn’s occasional 100 pt. outputs against the likes of Albany High (which I think has a lot to do with not only their 12-man depth, but vindictiveness in battling a school a lot of them started out at…), there have not been a lot of absolute blow-outs in the Big 10 this year. Sure, CBA has crushed some people too—but beating Amsterdam when they are without their best player Vinnie Nicosia, or Albany High without Malachi Mitchell, or Troy High when their players are squabbling and showing no chemistry— those games are not a lot to brag about.
Given the dominance of CBA and Maginn in recent years, they are the measuring sticks by which all other’s performances are judged, In some ways.
Take LaSalle’s season, for example. They finish 3-12 in the league, eighth out of the nine teams in the badly-named Big 10. Yet—give them some credit!—they only lost to CBA by 4 points at home, early in the season, and only lost to Maginn by 9 at home, after losing by “only” 14 at their place. Granted, they got killed by 28 in their second match with CBA at their place, but one could argue the first three games against the powerhouses were competitive. They have lost a lot of close games, however, and need to get past Albany High—also a talented bunch of underachievers so far—just to get past the play-in game, to go against #1 Suburban seed Guilderland.
Similarly—CCHS played CBA within 8 points at the Brother’s home court, late in January, and Bishop Gibbons came within a minute or two, and two points, of a huge upset on their own raucous home floor in a heart-breaking 62-60 game the night before I’m writing this.
And as great as Bishop Maginn is—given their 4th place ranking among the Big Schools of New York State—consider the following facts:
*They “only” beat CBA by 9 points the first time, 2 points the 2nd;
*They “only” beat Bishop Gibbons by 10 the first time (with Gibbons up by 7 at the half, back in December), and 14 the 2nd time;
*They “only” beat Guilderland & CCHS by 15, respectively;
*They “only” beat Amsterdam (with Nicosia) by 17 late in the year;
*They “only” beat Schenectady and LaSalle by 18 in their 2nd matches of the year….
You get the idea. Maginn absolutely blew out Albany and Troy both times, but almost everyone else in the Big 10 (plus Guilderland) hung with them at least a little bit at various times. Maybe they were just toying with the competition, and playing more subs than they would in the Sectionals, but the point is that Big 10 teams would be far less likely to be INTIMIDATED by Bishop Maginn than their Suburban counterparts… other than Guilderland—whom I think would be more competitive in a re-match—and possibly Colonie. The rest of the Suburban teams—they should just wave a white flag and get it over with. As it turns out… Columbia High, a shadow of its former self, will get the first chance to do so, as below.
*****
WAYNESWORD ON HOOP BONUS!!
CLASS AA SECTIONAL PAIRINGS ANNOUNCED
Because of my ample procrastination in writing this piece, plus the fortuitous confluence of an area-wide snow/ice day which cancelled out any real estate work I had planned—I am able to briefly comment on the momentous and long-awaited official pairings of the Class AA Sectional games—it’s like freaking Christmas to area high school hoop fans!!
Everything I’ve said above is a preamble to this—my favorite couple of weeks per year. This is where the truth plays out. This is where the stars get to shine on a much bigger stage…and the crowds that want to see these games can ALL be accommodated, unlike the recent CBA/Maginn game, where many were shut out.
The first round games are now only a week away (all on February 20th, a Wednesday night) as I scan the pairings and schedule. In the opening round games I have to say I would pick the higher seed in EVERY game, as boring and predictable as that might sound. If that is correct… there would be exactly FOUR Big 10 teams paired against FOUR Suburban Council teams in the Quarterfinals at the T-U Center on Feb. 24th (the most sacred of Sundays on the Hoop calendar).
As Devil’s advocate for a moment, could LaSalle (or Albany) beat Guilderland, after the laudatory praise I’ve heaped upon the latter?? Unlikely, I think.
Could #S5 seed Shaker surprise the athletic conundrum that is #B4 Schenectady High ?? Again, I think not.
Could lone Foothills Council representative Queensbury (#B7 seed) pull a stunner over #S2 Colonie?? I would love that for selfish reasons, but I strongly doubt it.
Can #B5 seed Amsterdam—either way up or way down all year—upset the high-scoring #S4 seed from Bethlehem Central of Delmar?? This one is the hardest to pick in the first round—and will be a good litmus test for the relative strength of Suburban vs. Big 10 supremacy.
Could Saratoga Springs, with Jordan Stevens back in the game, give CBA a surprise?? I would love it if they did, but they seem to be missing a few key players at a critical time.
Could Niskayuna’s sharp-shooters defeat CCHS?? Only if the score is kept in the 40’s or 50’s, which is unlikely, I must say.
Can a seemingly talented Troy High team get their act together enough to upset a similarly schizophrenic (and young) Shenendehowa team? I’m actually picking the Suburban team here.
As for Columbia/Maginn, I’ve already given my opinion…and I can’t imagine anyone picking an upset here, unless Craig Forth regains eligibility, and maybe not even then.
CONCLUSION/PREDICTION FOR THE AA QUARTERFINALS:
1 pm: Shen vs. CBA
2:30 : Colonie vs. CCHS
4 pm: Guilderland vs. Schenectady
5:30: Bethlehem vs. Maginn
The obvious picks for most observers will be: CBA in game 1; Guilderland in game 3; Maginn in game 4. The second game of the day would be a rematch of a tight game played earlier in the year on the CCHS Crusaders team’s home court—too close to call, but sure to be highly entertaining.
I don’t know what the semi-finals match-ups would be from there… but think that Guilderland would give either CBA or Maginn a bitter battle this time around. Will Shimeek, Taran, and Company get the better of Marfurt, Smith & Co.?? Or will Malcolm Austin and Deandre Kennedy-Ebron get to take on Guilderland, or will they get the survivor of the Colonie/CCHS grudge match?? No matter who prevails to get to that point, the star power is obvious, and the games are likely to be nail-biters… The semi-finals of this division are to be February 28th (Thursday), also at the T-U Center in downtown Albany. Can’t wait!
******
A WORD ABOUT THE OTHER DIVISIONS:
I’ve already made clear that I am penciling in an appointment to see the semis (maybe) and the Finals (definitely!) to see the Class A bracket. If Bishop Gibbons gets past the semi’s rematch against an experienced Averill Park squad (led by fiery guard Gerard O’Shea) that I expect to see, they will be making up for the egg they laid in Glens Falls last year on the way to a never-realized match-up with Jimmer Fredette’s Glens Falls team. And unless Mohonasen pulls the stunner of the year in beating #1 seed Albany Academy, the Cadets will be waiting for the #2 Golden Knights of ND/BG at the Glens Falls Civic Center on March 4th. That will be a beauty.
I don’t know much about the Class B teams other than my local familiarity with #5 seed Schuylerville and #6 seed Saratoga Catholic, and if either of them advances I will attempt to keep track. But #1 Ichabod Crane and #2 Fonda are presumed to be the favorites to get to the Finals—though something tells me upsets could be more prevalent in this division. I will be vicariously rooting for the Saratoga County teams to come through, though I wouldn’t mind scheduling a trip to watch Pat Lanoue of Hoosic Valley (#3 seed) put on a shooting exhibition at Glens Falls arena either. If I’m not mistaken, Hoosic Valley (of Schagticoke) has moved up in Class when I wasn’t looking, and with an accomplished City Rocks player like Lanoue leading them, this is appropriate. Look for them to surprise someone.
Lastly, Class CC looks interesting to me as of the semi-final round as well, I’ve noted already that Schenectady Christian is a dynamite bunch on this level, and I would pay to see a match-up featuring them play against the brilliant scoring of Shea Bromirsky, this year’s Section 2 scoring leader at over 28.4/game—the star of #2 ranked Cambridge of Washington County. Cambridge has beaten Hoosic Valley, from the Class B level, during the year, so they will be dangerous for any team in this group to play.
Each of these teams is likely to be tested in the semis by #3 Mechanicville of the Colonial Council—the team led by the venerable Joe Loudis—who was coaching Cohoes High when I was playing for RCS High 34 years ago! His team will not be intimidated after their league trials against Class A’s Albany Academy powerhouse—proving that playing superb competition is good even when you lose.
The #4 seed in this division is Voorheesville, which seems to have moved down from the Class B level where they competed in many memorable Sectional games against Schuylerville’s excellent teams in recent years. They are a sleeper here with potent big man Evan Christner finishing out his senior year with perhaps a third appearance in Glens Falls against teams that may not have anyone to match-up with him (although I’ve heard that Cambridge has a decent big man as well)…
*****
THAT’S IT FOR NOW, HOOP FANS…MY SNOWDAY OF HOOP INDULGENCE IS ALMOST OVER… AND THE GREAT GAMES OF WINTER ARE ABOUT TO BEGIN IN SECTION 2! HOPE TO SEE YOU AT A NEARBY GYM VERY SOON!!
--Copyright Wayne Perras, Feb 2008