Federation T.O.C. Class "A" Semifinal Recaps

GLENS FALLS, NY- The Semifinals for Class A at the NYS Federation Tournament on Saturday saw a NYC vs. NYC matchup with Msgr. Farrell taking on Walton, but the main event was an Upstate battle pitting two of the state's best with Albany Academy challenging Irondequoit.

Both were highly anticipated with championship game berths on the line for the winners, and with so much at stake there was a lot of energy and excitement in the Glens Falls Civic Center. A pair of excellent contests ended up coming through, and with NYCHoops.net in attendance, here is a recap of the action with the winners heading on to Sunday's title game.

The opening semifinal pitted what many consider to be the top two teams from the Upstate region this season and because of all that was on the line, Albany Academy head coach Brian Fruscio was quick to acknowledge that this would be the toughest game they will have played this season.

"They are so fast and they are winners so you have to do special things if you want to beat a special team," Fruscio said about going up against Irondequoit on Saturday.

It's been a Cinderella type season for Irondequoit who won the Class A NYSPHSAA title just last weekend, and they were looking to finish the season in special fashion and down the hometown favorites in the Cadets.

With both teams liking to slow things down there was no surprise that there was a deliberate pace at the start. Irondequoit was able to jump out in front as Gerald Drumgoole '19 clearly was using his matchup with a highly-touted Albany Academy squad as motivation.

Drumgoole had all things working in the opening minutes of the game as he finished an alley oop from Zach Stenglein '17, flying through the air above defenders for the finish, and then going right at Wright he was able to finish going to the rim, scoring 11 opening in the first quarter to help the Eagles take a 15-11 lead.

The Irondequoit lead was quickly vanished in the second quarter though as Hameir Wright '17 was able to finish inside off a beautiful spin around two defenders, and that was quickly topped by an August Mahoney '19 three falling away from the rim to give the Cadets the lead at 16-15.

Wright's bucket ended up being the start of a 10-2 run that saw Albany Academy take its biggest lead of the half, but with a pull up jumper by Stenglein, and then a three from the wing boy Drumgoole, the gap was once again closed and the game was on for the second half with the Cadets holding a slim 23-21 lead at the half.

It was a lead at the half but it was far from the performance that Albany Academy was hoping for, and being disappointed with what he felt was a subpar effort, Wright said they needed to step up the play if they wanted to put away the Eagles.

"We knew that we would have to pick our play in order to win so going into halftime we weren't excited at all because we knew we had a long way to go," Wright explained. "In the locker room, we wanted to pick up our focus and coach told us a couple adjustments and we wanted to really come out much stronger."

They wanted to do a better job in controlling Drumgoole, who scored 16 points in the opening half, not allowing him to be able to get off and score whenever he touched the ball, and for that it was time for Fruscio to make sure he didn't get the easy looks that he did in the first half.

His game plan wasn't difficult to figure it as it was just time to put the big gun on him.

"It's called Hameir Wright," Fruscio said with a laugh. "C.J had 2 fouls and Hameir had none so it wasn't a coaching mastermind decision honestly but we made the switch and Hameir was up for the challenge."

Whatever the reasoning the decision did pay major dividends as Drumgoole was limited to just 2 points in the 3rd quarter, and with the aforementioned C.J. Mulvey '17 blocking shots and playing strong defense while with the pair of fouls, the lead for Albany Academy grew to 8 early in the 4th quarter.

If Irondequoit wanted to make the comeback complete they would need better long distance shooting than they had gotten up into this point. They only had 2 made threes until Stenglein made two midway through the 4th to cut into the deficit, with the Eagles clawing back to make it 48-45 with just over 1 minute to go.

The Cadets were inbounding the ball after a timeout and many would've thought they would've been content to slow the game down and run clock, but with Marcus Filien '18 inbounding, Fruscio saw something in the Irondequoit defense and decided to go for it.

"When they fronted us and didn't have someone on the inbounds it set up perfect for us," Fruscio said.

Instead of playing conservatively, Filien would throw the ball the length of the floor, hitting Mulvey in strides where he was pushed from behind going up for an easy layup with the referees calling an intentional foul, sending Mulvey to the line, and giving Academy the ball after that.

Calling it the biggest play of the game, Wright knew that could've been a dagger if they just defended well and made FT's late. They closed out on the outside and had Stenglein and Ty'Sean Sizer '17 each miss threes in the closing seconds, as Albany Academy closed out a rough and tough semifinal to take a 54-45 victory.

In a game that Fruscio called a true team effort, Wright had a team high 22 points, with Mahoney hitting on 4 threes to finish with 18 points, and Mulvey chipping in with an important 12 points along with numerous other hustle and grit effort plays that you don't see in a box score.

While the season may have not ended with another championship for Irondequoit, the Eagles put together the best season is school history, and with Drumgoole, who scored 23 points to lead the way on Saturday, coming back for 2 more seasons after this, the future should continue to be bright for one of Rochester's best.

Next up for Albany Academy will be Sunday afternoons Class A Federation Championship Game, and regardless of who they play be it Walton from the PSAL, or Msgr. Farrell the CHSAA winner, Wright will go in excited and ready to hopefully make history and end his high school career on the best note possible.

"I'm pretty excited. I got butterflies in my stomach now so I hope I can go out and make history, win back to back titles here, and end the season with a W."

Call them the comeback kids, call them whatever you would like but Walton has become a team that just wins as after falling behind by as many as 11 in the opening half the Wildcats once again came from behind to take a 4-point victory.

It was a struggle in the early going for Walton who were especially timid because of charge calls going against them in both the first and second quarters. Andres Rivera '17, the Wildcats star, wasn't getting going, and with Eric Klayman '17 and Thomas Granello '17 each finding the range from deep, the Lions took a 24-15 lead at the half.

One bright spot for Walton was for the second straight game they got a bucket in the closing seconds to at least take some momentum into the 3rd quarter. In the PSAL Championship they were down 17 at the break before rallying to come back for the win, and head coach Eric Swillinger said because they had been in a tough position just last weekend, he was comfortable in believing a comeback could happen.

"I didn't have the MetroCard speech to go, and I don't think they would've believed me if I said I would them on the Coach Bus back to New York City so I was a little more civil today," Swillinger said in reference to his powerful speech at the half last Saturday in the PSAL Championship Game. "I felt like we were right there because we honestly weren't playing anywhere near our capabilities."

He felt as if his team weren't punching their opponents in the face and taking the game to him, wanting that to change and be more aggressive and try and get the game within 4 or 5 after three quarters to have a chance.

They did more than just that as Arturo Sealy '18 became a major weapon on putbacks in the paint, and with Rivera time after time pushing the tempo and getting the offense going, Walton was down just 1 going to the 4th.

That is when the belief really set in as the wakeup call was clearly received in the eyes of Swillinger as Rivera, even without making a ton of shots from the floor, was finding a way to impact the game from the FT line. Combine that with the fact that when the going gets tough, the Wildcats truly seem to get going and it was a real winning mentality for Walton as they were able to create a couple big turnovers late to hold on and come all the way back once again for the 46-42 win.

Rivera had 10 of his team high 13 points come from the charity stripe, backing up exactly what his coach said, finding any way to get on the scoreboard to bring Walton the win, while Sealy chipped in with 12 points as well in the victory.

No one for the Lions of Farrell made it to double figures, though Steven DeCarlo '17 paced the team with 9 points in the loss that ends their season just short of a berth in the Federation Championship Game.

That berth belongs to Walton who again fought back from adversity to come away with the title, and while they will be facing a confident and tough Albany Academy team on Sunday for the championship, Swillinger says he is confident knowing that his team will once again give it their all.

"This is for the State Championship, it just doesn't get any bigger than this."