Here is some important information to help you get ready for Friday night’s Section 2 Class AA championship game at Hudson Valley Community College.
- Tipoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m.
- Albany High, the No. 1 seed, is 19-3 and ranked No. 16 in the state.
- Bethlehem, the No. 2 seed, is 18-4 and ranked No. 17.
- The Eagles beat the Falcons by 17 at Bethlehem during the regular season.
- The Falcons are the defending Section 2 champs. They are playing in the Class AA final for the fifth time in 10 trips to sectionals under coach Decky Lawson.
- A win would give Albany High its first back-to-back team sectional championships since the girls’ basketball team did that under Hall of Fame coach Leslie Bogucki in 1997-98.
- Tickets are $12 at the door and $9.40 in advance (you can buy them here).
- If you can’t get to Hudson Valley, you can watch a livestream of the game (a subscription may be required).
- In case you missed it, the Falcons advanced with a barrage of 3-pointers (12 of them!) and excellent defense in the second half of their 77-68 semifinal win over Colonie on Monday night (avenging their only other regular-season Suburban Council defeat).
- Senior Amari Scott-Starr led the long-range assault, burying five 3-pointers – all of them clutch and all in the second half as the Falcons pulled away. Her first erased Colonie’s last lead of the game early in the third quarter. Her last, with 3:04 left to play, deflated Colonie’s comeback after the Raiders had cut an 11-point lead down to five.
- Junior Iyanna Weeden’s 17 points included four 3s. Her drive-and-kick-out also set up Scott-Starr for one of her clutch rainbow 3s during the Falcons’ third-quarter surge.
- Sophomore Azera Gates scored 15 points, taking full command of the offensive tempo during the fourth quarter.
- As she does most games, senior Shonyae Edmonds led the way with 26 points. That included three 3-pointers and a handful of coast-to-coast deliveries.
- Unrelenting defensive whiz Jordan Johnson, a junior, took Colonie’s best player, St. Rose-bound Jayla Tyler, away as an offensive option for the Raiders in the second half.
