Class A Federation Semifinal Recaps

ALBANY, NY - After winning the NYSPHSAA Class "A" State Championship last weekend in Glens Falls to run their winning streak to 53 games, Scotia-Glenville came into the NYS Federation Tournament on Friday looking to keep their winning ways going in the semifinals when they took on the champions from the CHSAA, Canisius of Buffalo.

The Tartans, who trailed late in the game, charged from behind with the help of a controversial foul call with 0.3 left on the clock, but in the end, the Crusaders came up with the big plays late in the OT session, as it was Canisius who knocked off Scotia, ending the Tartans winning streak, 68-63 in overtime.

Canisius got off to as good of a start as they possibly could've hoped for as Josh Huffman '15 scored 6 straight during a 10-1 Crusaders run to see them go up 17-11 early on, the only negative for Canisius was the fact that star guard LaTerrance Reed '15 picked up his 3rd foul of the game with under a minute to go in the first, saddling him to the bench for the rest of the half, something the 6'2" guard said was tough for him, but he maintained trust in his teammates to keep them close.

"It was tough, but I trusted my teammates and knew that when I came back in that it would be a new game," Reed stated.

The 2nd quarter with Reed on the bench was controlled by Scotia as Diamond Corker '15 scored 4 straight, and when Joe Cremo '15 knocked down a three from the left wing, the Tartans tied the game at 20 with 5:36 to go in the half.

Cremo and Corker kept it going through the rest of the half as they combined to score all of Scotia's points in the quarter as they rallied from a deficit that was as much as 8 to come back and take a 29-26 lead heading into the locker room.

You had to wonder if the pressure of winning 53 straight and keeping the streak alive was playing in the minds of Scotia and there seniors, especially Cremo who is asked to do so much for the Tartans, but even though it has been a big topic of conversation everywhere else, Scotia head coach Jim Giammattei said that it has not been spoken about once among his team because of the confidence they have to keep it going.

"We honestly never talked about it, and not because it's taboo to talk about, but because we have played so much basketball over the years against some very good teams that, I hate to say it, but they expect to win," Giammattei said.

The expectation to win was there again on Friday morning, but Canisius was not going anywhere as they proved early in the third quarter with Reed coming back into the game and providing the spark that they needed scoring 13 points in the 3rd and that along with a pressure defense, allowing the Crusaders to lead 44-39 heading into the 4th.

It was a packed house at the SEFCU Arena with the pro-Scotia crowd ready for a comeback to have their beloved Tartans extend their winning ways for one more game, but each time Cremo would make a shot, it seemed Canisius had the answer, and after Stafford Trueheart '16 hit on a pair of FT's with 2.6 seconds to go, it seemed like the streak would be over, but then a miracle happened.

Cremo got the ball off the inbounds and Huffman was called for a foul, one that had the fans in the stands in shock. The game was thought to be over, but Cremo was heading to the FT line for a 1 and 1 to tie the game and send it into overtime, a situation Cremo said he was extremely confident with.

"I was ready for those. I work all my life for free throws and situations like that and I wasn't going to let my teammates down," Cremo confidently said.

He calmly then stepped up to the charity stripe and sunk both to send the game to OT, but should it have gotten to that point was the question that many of the Canisius players were talking about after the game.

Reed said it was a call he didn't know if he had seen before in his life in that spot, while head coach Kyle Husband added that it while it was tough, he remained confident that much like they have during this entire season, they would respond when they needed.

"You would think something like that would faze them but this group has persevered all season through ups and downs so I know things like this won't get to them," Husband said.

He was proven to be right as right out of the gate in the overtime Huffman scored off a beautiful feed from Reed, and while Cremo tried to carry Scotia late scoring 7 Tartans points in the overtime, they just didn't have enough ammo, especially after Corker and Mike Palleschi '15 fouled out in the 4th quarter, and when Trueheart putback his own miss while getting fouled with 32 seconds left, he gave Canisius the lead for good as Cremo and Scott Stopera '15 each missed 3 point attempts late, and going 6 for 6 from the FT line down the stretch helped the Crusaders close out the game and pull off the shocker, taking down the winners of 53 straight in Scotia, 68-63.

Reed had 13 points Canisius in the 3rd quarter as he and Trueheart each paced the way with 19 points as the Crusaders surprised near everyone in attendance, and even though it was expected to be a big challenge, Husband said his kids always believed that this result was possible as they used all the talk of Scotia and there winning ways as motivation to push them over the top.

"Anytime you read anything about Class A in the state you were always reading about Scotia, and I don't think we were slighted but I think they were certainly excited for the chance to get to play them and hopefully beat them," Husband explained.

They did just that in knocking off the team that many considered unbeatable in Class "A" as Scotia fell to defeat, though Cremo finished with a game high 28 points, and though it wasn't the way he wanted to close his high school career, the Albany bound guard said that he wouldn't trade the memories he made with this group of guys, his best friends, for anything.

"It's going to sting for a while but these are my best friends for life and they have given me everything I could've hoped for," Cremo explained. "We had 53 straight good days, today just wasn't one of them unfortunately."

As Cremo would go on to say, Scotia played well but Canisius just played a little bit better meaning it will be the Crusaders from Buffalo playing for the Class "A" Federation Championship on Saturday at 5pm.

They are going to enjoy their victory for a little bit Trueheart says, but they know they have another tough game if they want to take the title, and that's why the lanky forward says he will be watching the game between Albany Academy and Springfield Gardens closely to see just what to expect for Saturday.

"I'm going to sit in the stands, enjoy our win, and watch this next game and see what is in store for us tomorrow."

Albany Academy Advances Over Springfield Gardens, 61-50

Only up 25-22 heading into the half, Albany Academy head coach Brian Fruscio knew that what was needed was tightening up of the defense, and led by a 14-0 third quarter run, a quarter in which the Cadets limited the Golden Eagles to just 4 points, they were able to blow past Springfield Gardens for the comfortable 10 point victory.

"I think the fact we were able to clamp down and limit them to one shot showed that we were executing the way we were wanting to."

Those were Fruscio's thoughts as he knew Springfield Gardens, the PSAL Champions, would come down and bring what he called New York City speed, but they were able to counter that with a mismatch inside as Hameir Wright '17 at 6'7" proved to be bigger and more versatile than anyone on the Eagles, and he was able to take advantage.

With 12 points in the opening half, dominating the glass, while showing an excellent ability to put the ball on the floor, Wright was able to score at will early on, but guard Joel Boyce '16 was solid in the opening half for Springfield Gardens scoring 9 points to keep it within 3 going into halftime.

Fruscio was happy for the most part with how his Albany Academy group were looking but guard Rory Flaherty '15 knew to pull away and play they wanted to from start to finish they were going to need an even better defensive effort in the 2nd half.

"We were going to need to step up the defensive effort and bring it even strong in the second half because we knew they were going to come out strong and we just wanted to counter that," Flaherty said.

They did more than just step it up defensively, the Cadets shut down Springfield Gardens, limiting the Golden Eagles to just 4 points in the 3rd quarter with Flaherty calling it the best quarter that Albany Academy has played this season.

A 14-0 run helped the Cadets pull away and take a 14 point lead into the fourth, and even though Springfield was able to close the deficit to 8 with just over one minute to play, Albany Academy never seemed to be threatened the rest of the way as they coasted into the Federation Class "A" Championship Game with the 61-50 victory.

Wright had a game high 24 points in the win for Albany Academy, while Flaherty added 13, with Sal Arena '16 chipping in with 11.

In the defeat it was Boyce who had 20 for Springfield Gardens while Ian Howard '15 closed out his H.S. career with 11

It was a great win for the Cadets, and while they were hoping for a revenge game against Scotia, to whom Albany Academy lost to in last year's Federation Tournament, Flaherty understands that with Canisius pulling off the upset victory it means anything can happen.

"Beating Canisius is going to be really tough. For them to beat Scotia and snap their winning streak shows just how good they are and we will need to come out and play our best tomorrow if we are going to win the title."