Girard, Glens Falls win NYSPHSAA Title @ buzzer

BINGHAMTON, NY- There was almost a sense of fate or destiny for Glens Falls on Saturday evening in the Floyd Maines Veterans Memorial Arena that they would be the team at the end of the night to walk out with the NYSPHSAA Class B Championship.

With five seconds remaining in the OT session it looks as if their fate had run dry with star guard Joe Girard '19 stuck on the bench after subbing out for offense/defense reasons, and a turnover by Lowville without time running off the clock meant he couldn't check back in as the Indians had no timeouts remaining.

At that point even Indians head coach Rob Girard felt as if it would need to be someone else to step up in the closing seconds, but a Glens Falls inbounds pass that went out off a Lowville players foot with three seconds to go meant Girard could check back in.

When Girard came in most in the solid out arena had no doubt to the final results as he would get the inbounds pass in the corner and drive baseline and finish a contested layup at the buzzer to finish with 50 points and see Glens Falls win their first NYSPHSAA title in basketball history as they defeated a very talented Lowville team in OT, 75-74.

It wasn't easy for Glens Falls as the twin duo of Aidan Macaulay '21 and Gavin Macaulay '21 were stroking it from deep early on to help the Red Raiders a quick 18-8 lead, but Girard said even in an early hole it was imperative for his Indians team to stay together.

"We had to stay confident," Girard said. "We were still in the game and it was early so it wasn't time for anyone to panic."

Remaining confident Girard was able to knock down some three's in the second quarter and get Glens Falls back within single digits. He also saw gaps in the Lowville defense and saw opportunities to attack the rim and finish going to the basket. That led to a big close to the half with Girard having 18 points and the Lowville lead down to 37-34.

Being down at the half wasn't what Girard said he or his team was looking for but at the same time he felt that the Indians were a good spot down by just three.

"When we went to halftime down just 3, we were excited, we were still in the game and hit some clutch shots to get back into it," Girard explained.

For the first time in the game Glens Falls took a lead when Girard came off a screen and knocked down an NBA range three 3:04 to go in the third quarter at 45-44, with the momentum fully shifted and the Indians going on an 11-2 run to end the stanza and take a 52-46 lead into the fourth.

Credit to Lowville and the Macaulay brothers, along with the rest of the Red Raiders as they never got rattled with Glens Falls going in front and never strayed from the game plan and when Alex Thomas '19 hit his first three of the game with exactly 5 minutes to go it was Lowville back in front by one.

Expanding the lead to as much as 4 with under two minutes to play it did start to look and feel like the Indians, and Girard's run to finish his high school career with a title was in seriously jeopardy but down 64-61 with seven seconds left it was Girard to the rescue knocking down a three to tie things at 64 and send us to an extra session.

That was the first time that both player Girard and coach Girard believed destiny was on their side, the second and most important time came in the closing OT seconds as with 5 seconds left and Glens Falls down 74-73 it was Lowville with the ball with a chance to seal it from the FT line if they could just inbound the ball cleanly.

Thomas though was called for a push off before the ball was inbounded meaning Glens Falls had the shot they wanted, but it would have to be without its star as Girard was on the bench as the Indians were planning on fouling right away and with him now having 4 fouls, they didn't want him picking up a fifth in that spot.

Without a timeout Girard couldn't get back in the game since the game clock never moved, but when Glens Falls inbounded the ball a Lowville player was able to get hit hand on the ball and push it out of bounds meaning with 3 seconds now left Girard to enter back in.

Both Girard's admitted that felt like a feeling from someone watching them from above, and of course the Syracuse bound star said he was not going to let his team lose with him back in. Getting the inbounds pass in the corner, Girard took the ball down the baseline and laid it up just before the final buzzer as he and his teammates immediately stormed down the other end of the court to the cheering Glens Falls faithful as the game ended with that giving the Indians a fateful 75-74 OT victory.

Scoring 50 points, Girard did everything he could to lead his team to the championship, with his 49th and 50th points being just enough to ultimately get the job done.

In the defeat it was one of the two Macaulay brothers in Aidan who had a team high 30 to lead the way in the heartbreaking defeat for Lowville who paced by a number of sophomores and juniors will certainly be back over the next couple of years to have their chance again at a state title.

For Girard it was the great ending as the win now propels them to the school's first ever NYSPHSAA boys’ basketball championship. He now will have a chance to finish out his high school basketball career next weekend in the NYS Class B Federation Tournament of Champions which will be played in his hometown at the Glens Falls Civic Center.

This moment will live with him forever he says to bring the coveted state championship back home, but the opportunity to truly finish things out at home is something he believes will be the perfect storybook ending to a storybook high school career.

"That's where I grew up watching basketball and falling in love with basketball so to know I'm going to end my high school career there it's really unbelievable," Girard said with an uncontrollable smile.