Clifton Park Gamecocks come up just short in losing to St. Gabriel’s Warriors in battle of No. 1 seeds; Bethlehem Eagles, AP Gold, CPark Panthers, St. Clare's carve out wins for Albany/Troy 9-10

TROY -- The Schenectady 9-10 Senior League proved to be just a bit too strong for the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League on Saturday, Feb. 9, in the Capital District Senior League Showdown Basketball Tournament that was played at the Russell Sage College Neff Center in Troy.

The Schenectady 9-10 Senior League won six of the 10 head-to-head showdown games with the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League during a full day of highly competitive, hard-nosed basketball action.

Leading the way for the Schenectady side of things were the No. 1 seeded St. Gabriel’s Warriors who were victorious in their showdown meeting with the Albany/Troy No. 1 seeded Clifton Park Gamecocks. The Warriors won the fiercely contested game, 72-68, saddling the previously undefeated Gamecocks with their first loss of the season.

St. Gabriel’s ran out to as much as a 15-point lead early in the game. Clifton Park stormed back in the second half, and the teams traded leads and lost/gained opportunities down the stretch before St. Gabriel’s, now 16-1 overall on the season, prevailed. The Clifton Park Gamecocks now sport an overall record of 15-1.

EAGLES SOAR AGAINST ALPLAUS

The day couldn’t have started off with a more exciting game. The Bethlehem Eagles who had won only one game to date during the Albany/Troy regular season, turned back Alplaus of the Schenectady 9-10 League, 49-47, in a battle of No. 10 seeds. Bethlehem was behind virtually the entire game but came out on top on the strength of two foul shots from John Henry Walters with four seconds left in the game. Matt Revai led Bethlehem with 16 points and Walters finished with 13 points.

Albany/Troy won the next game in the senior showdown to go up 2-0 as Averill Park Gold defeated St. Clare’s Garnet, 52-45, in a meeting of No. 6 seeds. Ben Ferlito led the way for Averill Park Gold with 17 points. Satchel Carroll had 11 points for the winners.

Schenectady got its first victory in the Senior Showdown event to make it 2-1 when St. Clare’s Gold ran past the Clifton Park Fury of the Albany/Troy League, 58-41.

That win was quickly followed up by two more victories for the Schenectady 9-10 Senior League. No. 9 seed Christ The King White turned back Albany/Troy’s Averill Park Green, 66-46, and then St. Gabriel’s won it’s nail bitter with the Clifton Park Gamecocks to make it 3-2 in favor of Schenectady.

CLIFTON PARK PANTHERS STRIKE BACK FOR ALBANY/TROY

Facing an almost must-win situation to keep Albany/Troy close in the showdown match up of the two leagues, the Clifton Park Panthers rose to the occasion and won their battle with Schenectady’s St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White. The battle of No. 2 seeds turned out to be somewhat anti climatic as the Panthers won, 64-50, over an undermanned Ballston Spa team. That gave both leagues three wins apiece. The Clifton Park Panthers are now 15-1 overall. St. Mary’s Ballston Spa White is now 13-3 overall.

The two leagues then traded victories in the next two matchups to make it 4-4. Duanesburg fought its way past Albany/Troy’s Clifton Park BBQ Chicken, 61-48, in a meeting between No. 3 seeds to give Schenectady a short-lived edge. Albany/Troy responded when St. Clare’s turned back Schenectady’s St. Mary’s Ballston Spa Red, 40-36, in a match up of No. 8 seeds.

STRONG FINISH GIVES SCHENECTADY THE EDGE

That set the stage for the final two games of the Senior Showdown Tournament with senior league bragging rights hanging in the balance.

The day’s last two games went Schenectady’s way as the No. 4 seeded Rebels beat Albany JCC of the Albany/Troy league, 67-58, and Schenectady’s St. Clement’s powered its way past the East Greenbush Blue Devils, 65-47, in a battle of No. 7 seeds.

POINTS TO PONDER – There was one other game played Saturday during the Senior Showdown Tournament. That “friendly” match up pitted Schenectady’s No. 11 seed, St. Kateri against Schenectady’s No. 12 seed, Christ The King Blue. St. Kateri squeezed out a three-point win, 47-44, over CTK Blue in a game that went down to the game’s very last play … Turnout for the Senior Showdown Tournament games was strong as fans of their respective leagues turned out for the games in good numbers … Teams in the Albany/Troy 9-10 Senior League all have one more game before their post-season playoffs begin on Sunday, Feb, 24 … Teams in the Schenectady 9-10 League also have make up games and regularly scheduled league games left to be played on Sunday, Feb. 10, and the following weekend on Feb. 16-17. Several key match ups remain that will help determine final playoff seedings. That league’s playoffs also start on Feb. 24 … The Schenectady 9-10 League as well as the Albany/Troy 9-10 League will each have a post-season NCAA Tournament that features each league’s upper tier teams battling for their respective league’s overall championship. In a first, the Schenectady 9-10 lower tier teams will join the Albany/Troy 9-10 lower tier teams in one overall NIT Tournament. All playoff pairings and schedule will be released shortly.