An enormous task faced the Bishop Ludden boys basketball team in Saturday’s Class AA regional final at Troy’s Hudson Valley Community College.
The Gaelic Knights, having scraped its way to the Section III crown, now had to face defending state champion Shenendehowa, who arrived undefeated, atop the state rankings and loaded with many of the same players that won it all one year ago.
For a little while, Ludden did keep pace with the Plainsmen – but led by the hot shooting of senior superstar Kevin Huerter, Shen got away and prevailed, 70-54, over the Gaelic Knights to earn a return trip to Glens Falls Civic Center for the state final four.
Given the number of close games it faced during the post-season, Ludden knew its best chance lay in playing superb defense to contain Huerter, who is going to the University of Maryland, and then putting together scoring runs of its own to make things interesting late.
During the first quarter, that plan worked. Shen found it difficult to guard a hot-shooting Ludden side that, capped by Mika Adams-Woods’ shot at the horn, produced a modest 15-13 edge, while on the other end the Gaelic Knights did a solid job of containing the Plainsmen on the perimeter.
But that only delayed Shen’s inevitable surge. It began with Huerter and Luke Hicks hitting 3-pointers, and was capped when Huerter connected from well beyond the arc, capping a 13-2 run.
Were it not for Jim Grabowski scoring 11 of his 15 points in that quarter, Ludden may have lost touch. Instead, it trailed by single digits, 36-28, at halftime, and hoped for a hot run of its own during the second half.
But any hopes Ludden had of reversing course got doused by more hot shooting on Shen’s part. Hicks hit on two more 3-pointers in the third quarter and the Plainsmen outscored the Gaelic Knights 18-9, doubling its margin to 54-37.
Battling to the end, Ludden saw Adams-Woods reach 20 points, but all of that was hard-earned in the face of a box-and-one defense Shen threw at him. The Plainsmen didn’t mind Grabowski’s production, nor that of Matt Hosek (11 points), so long as Adams-Woods didn’t get on a tear.
Huerter, for his part, finished with 22 points, while Hicks had 12 points and Petar Bebic contributed 11 points. Shen will face Rochester Aquinas in a highly-anticipated state semifinal on Saturday afternoon at Glens Falls.
Ludden, who finished 20-5, loses the likes of Hosek, Grabowki and Chris Allen to graduation, but return Adams-Woods, plus standouts like Sh’ikem Lee, Joe Connor, Will Engelhardt, Ed Walser and Keandre Sanders, next winter as it looks to gain a fifth sectional title in six years.
