Albany Christian Brothers Academy’s small forwards proved to be too pesky for Cicero-North Syracuse’s boys basketball team to handle.
The Brothers received a total of 43 points from its forwards and prevented the Northstars’ top scorers, Andy Falvey and Zach Coleman, from getting in gear in beating the Northstars 61-48 in Saturday night’s Class AA regional final at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.
Falvey — who, at 6-10 had a sizeable advantage over Albany CBA’s post players — scored six points in the first quarter, but was then shut down as the Brothers (22-1) denied him from even touching the ball for long periods of time.
“It was frustrating,” said Falvey, who finished with eight points and 11 rebounds. “They put so much [defensive] pressure on our guards that it made it difficult for them to get me the ball.”
“We knew he was a big guy,” said Cancer. “We knew he would be dangerous, so we had to help out on defense and deny him the ball.”
Even with Falvey taken out of the equation, CNS (19-4) found ways to stay with the Brothers in the first half. Deyon Smith drained a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter, and Coleman added six points, but the Northstars still trailed 32-27 at halftime.
The reason CNS found itself down at intermission was Albany CBA’s Max Weaver. The junior guard drained four three-pointers on his way to a 16-point first half.
Weaver cooled off in the second half, but that was OK for Albany CBA because other players started heating up. First, it was the duo of Joe Krong and Chaz Lott — two guards from the bench who hit several key baskets during a 9-4 third-quarter run that gave the Brothers a 41-31 lead. Then Cancer got into the act with three consecutive layups to open the fourth quarter.
Ultimately, it was Ritter who sealed the Northstars’ fate. The senior made seven of his eight free throws in the fourth quarter to give the Brothers a 13-point victory.
While Albany CBA’s offense kept going, CNS was stuck in neutral in the second half thanks to an aggressive zone defense by the Brothers. The Northstars coughed up the ball several times, and their attempts to get the ball in to Falvey didn’t work out.
“I think we were looking for a spark, and it never came,” Falvey said.
“They switched to a 3-2 [zone defense], and we didn’t handle it well,” CNS head coach John Haas said.
Coleman did what he could to keep the Northstars in the game, scoring nine of his team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter. But even with that, CNS found itself at the end of a season that included a Section III Class AA title.
“We needed a couple of breaks to get going because they’re not a team you can come back easily on,” Haas said.
