GLENS FALLS — The Colonie team showcased an unstoppable offense on Thursday night, overpowering CBA in the Section 2 Class AAA semifinals at Cool Insuring Arena.
With an impressive 85-66 victory over the Brothers, Colonie secured its place in the AAA championship game on Saturday, where they will face Green Tech.
“We’re on a winning streak,” exclaimed Colonie’s Trey Von Owens-Cody. “We’ve won 20 games during the regular season, and now we’re at 22-0. We plan to keep this momentum going.”
Colonie took an early lead of 23-8 after the first quarter, and maintained their dominance throughout the semifinal game.
“Our strategy is all about teamwork and utilizing the space on the court, which is something we always strive to do,” explained Colonie coach Greg Davis. “Our mindset is focused on taking it one day at a time and ensuring we get all the small details right.”
Owens-Cody led the game with a remarkable 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Julius Reed added 15 points. Cameron Trimarchi contributed 13 points for Colonie, and Camryn Curet scored 10.
On the CBA side, Matt Sgambati led with 22 points, and JJ Osinski added 12.
In the past two seasons, the championship game in Section 2’s highest classification has been a showdown between Green Tech and CBA, with Green Tech emerging victorious each time.
In 2020, Shenendehowa defeated Green Tech in the final.
Colonie last played for a Section 2 title in 2019, and their last championship win was in 2001.
For Owens-Cody, reaching the championship has been a lifelong dream.
“I’ve been dreaming about this since fourth grade,” Owens-Cody shared. “Every year, after we lost in the first round, I’d come back here and watch the games. I’d feel envious of not being on the court. Now we’re here and it feels incredible.”
“This moment is all they’ve been talking about since spring and summer,” added Davis. “Now that they’re here, they just need to perform. We have to play true Colonie basketball.”
To claim the championship, Colonie will have to defeat Green Tech, a team that is heading to its fourth consecutive championship game and is aiming for its third consecutive title.
Also on Thursday at Cool Insuring Arena, Green Tech defeated Shaker 66-52 in its Class AAA semifinal.
Haisi Mayben led the Eagles with a game-high 28 points, including a perfect 9-of-9 at the free throw line.
Ramere Brown added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, while U’Mier Graham scored 10.
Shaker was led by Tye Mariano, who scored 23 points, hit four 3-pointers, went 9-of-10 at the line and collected six rebounds. Brandon Makoyi added three points and eight rebounds for the Blue Bison.
The AAA championship game is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. on Saturday at Cool Insuring Arena.
Colonie 23 19 24 19 – 85
CBA 8 15 23 20 – 66
Colonie scoring: Tenney 3-1-7; Hulett 2-0-4; Reed 4-5-15; Delvalle 0-2-2; Klouse 4-0-8; Owens-Cody 11-2-24; Curet 5-0-10; Trimarchi 5-3-13; Seaver 1-0-2. CBA scoring: Ruggles 3-0-7; Wine 2-2-6; Vogel 1-3-5; Osinski 4-3-12; Coffil 3-2-9; Sgambati 9-3-22; Bowden 0-2-2; O’Leary 1-1-3. Team totals: Colonie 35-13-20; CBA 23-16-66.
Green Tech 19 12 19 16 – 66
Shaker 9 14 9 20 – 52
Green Tech scoring: Barnes 2-0-5; Mayben 9-9-28; Brown 4-0-11; Sherrills 1-0-2; Edge 1-0-2; Graham 4-2-10; Owens 4-0-8. Shaker scoring: Makoyi 0-3-3; Demand 3-0-8; Brown 3-1-8; Mariano 5-9-23; Robinson 2-0-6; Robinson 1-1-4. Team totals: Green Tech 25-11-66; Shaker 14-14-52.
Bad punctuation and grammar, disagree
They’re not going to win, their best players are injured.
Disagree, Green Tech has a strong bench and can still pull off a win.