CLIFTON PARK – The gym at Shenendehowa High School has not been kind to the Broadalbin-Perth Patriots.
Last year the Patriots came in favored as the No. 2 seed and fell to Voorheesville in overtime, 61-59.
The third-seeded Patriots returned to Shenendehowa on Friday night to play No. 6 Schalmont in a Section II Class B quarterfinal game.
Unfortunately, the Patriots could not put together a winning combination as they fell to the Sabres 60-58 and were eliminated from the postseason tournament.
“I felt like we were close all night. They couldn’t put us away, but we couldn’t get over the hump,” Broadalbin-Perth coach Tucker Gifford said. “Unfortunately, it is the second year in a row we are leaving this gym and this exact locker room on the wrong end of the score.”
With its victory, Schalmont advances to the Class B semifinals Monday at the Glens Falls Civic Center where they will play No. 2 Glens Falls. The Indians advanced with a 73-59 victory over Stillwater on Friday at Shenendehowa.
Broadalbin-Perth put the first points of Friday’s game on the board with baskets from Colby Hartz and Vincenzo DiCaterino before Frank Parisi hit a basket and a 3-pointer to put the Sabres up 5-4. The teams exchanged baskets until Parisi hit a 3-pointer to start an 8-0 run to close out the opening period with the Sabres up 17-9.
Broadalbin-Perth chipped away at the Sabres lead with DiCaterino hitting six points in the second quarter to go with 3-pointers from Preston Taylor, Connor Pingitore and Joe Ladipo. Ladipo also had a tip-in at the buzzer to cut the Schalmont lead down from eight to four, 30-26, at the break.
Hartz converted a pair of free-throws in the opening minute of the second half to bring the lead down to two, but the Sabres responded with a 6-1 run to build their lead back to seven.
Again the Patriots came up with a run to cut the lead to a basket, 41-39, with six seconds left in the third quarter, only to have Tyler Mattice hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the score 44-39 heading in the final period.
Michael Mann got the Patriots off to a fast start in the final stanza, hitting a 3-pointer in the opening minute to again pull the Patriots to within a basket. However, Schalmont got a 3-pointer from Parisi and a basket from Zach Ericson to take the lead back to seven, 49-42.
The Patriots picked up their pace and pressed the Sabres into awkward looks while putting up five unanswered points to trim the lead again to two points.
The Patriots could not sustain the run as Parisi outscored the Patriots 5-1 to help build a 56-48 advantage with under two minutes left to play.
Schalmont built its lead to 59-50 with 34.8 seconds left to play before the Patriots rallied with a pair of 3-pointers from Taylor and a basket from Ladipo to outscore the Sabres 8-1 in the closing seconds, but ran out of time as Schalmont completed the upset and advanced with a 60-58 victory.
“We could never get over the hump tonight,” Gifford said. “Every time we started to get some momentum and put strings together, we made a mistake or turned it over. We needed to get more stop-run-stops, but we could string enough of those together. Give credit to them, they played a very focused game and stuck to our keys. We struggled tonight and they were more disciplined than we were. We gave up too many boards and allowed the Parisi kid to go off and he hurt us. We just could not put enough good plays together tonight.”
Parisi connected for five 3-pointers in his game-high 25-point performance for the Sabres, while Zac O’Dell, the team’s leading scorer, was held to 12 points, but had seven blocked shots on the night.
“O’Dell created absolute havoc for us inside,” Gifford said. “His length [6-foot-5] and shot blocking ability really hurt our big guys. We had a balance all year and tonight we had a hard time getting that balance with the outside and inside. It was just off tonight and he had a big part to do with that.”
The Sabres also out rebounded the Patriots 43-24 in the game.
Taylor hit five 3-pointers as part of his team-high 22 points to go with four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Hartz added 12 points and DiCaterino finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
“Both years we have been busting our behinds to get to here,” an emotional Taylor said. “It doesn’t come easy. Everyone thinks that Class B is an easy go; but it’s not. This burns for the second year in a row. I have been playing with these guys since sixth grade and I wouldn’t want to take any other team to battle than the one I did today. We came up short today but I can truly say those guys wearing the Patriots jerseys are going to be my friends for quite a long time. Not only my friends, but my family.”
It was the final game for the senior members of the Patriots, Hartz, DiCaterino, Mann, Pingitore, Hunter Anastasia, Evan DiMaio and Tyler Graham.
“To win four in a row was going to be tough, it was tough to win just two in a row to get to the Civic Center,” Gifford said. “It is unfortunate because I thought we had a team that could win it all. That is the painful part of it because this is a senior group that has been very dedicated and have come a long way. We had a great 17-5 year, won a tournament out in Verona and knocked off a couple of our rivals. But ultimately the seasons are often measured in that championship banner. Unfortunately, it is not us this year.”
Schalmont 60, Broadalbin-Perth 58
Schalmont17 13 14 16 – 60
Broadalbin-Perth9 17 13 19 – 58
Schalmont
Parisi 9-2-25, Z. O’Dell 5-2-12, Lavalle 1-0-3, Ericson 4-0-9, Bird 2-0-4, Mattice 1-0-3, J. O’Dell 2-0-4. Totals: 24-4-60.
Broadalbin-Perth
Hartz 3-6-12, DiCaterino 5-1-11, Taylor 8-1-22, Pingitore 1-0-3, Ladipo 3-0-7, Mann 1-0-3. Totals: 21-8-58.
3-point goals: Schalmont 8 (Parisi 5, Lavalle, Ericson, Mattice); Broadalbin-Perth 8 (Taylor 5, Pingitore, Ladipo, Mann).
