Colonie Holds Off Shaker

January 15, 2019

Colonie 60, Shaker 55

Mid-January can accurately be described as the beginning of the 'dog days' of high school basketball season. Over two months since the season started yet still a month away from sectional season, teams can fall victim to a bit of malaise from time to time. Thankfully, this was far from the case on Tuesday night in Colonie. In the battle of South vs. North Colonie, both sides came with a spirited effort in a game that had more of a late February feel. Shaker made Colonie sweat until the bitter end, but the hosts made enough plays in the 4th quarter to gain some separation and hold off one last Shaker push in the final minute.

Aliyah Wright finished with 15 points Tuesday to pace Colonie in their victory.

It was a physical, jittery, foul-filled & sloppy at times start in the Colonie gym, with both teams spending more time at the free throw line over the first few minutes than actually playing. Shaker rode a hot start from Solé Carrington (Shaker 2021), who had 8 1st quarter points, to an early lead, but it was short-lived. Late in the quarter, Ahnalese Pearson (Colonie 2020) went on a personal 7-0 run to give Colonie a lead and extend it to 17-11 - a lead that Shaker would never get back. After Carrington scored early in the 2nd quarter to cut Shaker's deficit to 2, Colonie would reel off 8 straight points to earn their first double digit lead. Makayla Blake (Colonie 2020) had a strong stanza, scoring 8 points in the 2nd quarter to help them maintain their lead despite the hot shooting of Julia DeBeatham (Shaker 2020), who hit a pair of threes late in the half to keep the Bison within striking distance.

After Colonie went into the locker room up 7, they came out and got baskets from Pearson and Aliyah Wright (Colonie 2019; New Haven signee) to give them their largest lead at 39-28. Then Shaker, whose calling card this year has been their scrappiness, used it to claw back into the game. A pair of Carrington free throws started off their run. After Kaelah Carter (Shaker 2022) and Blake traded baskets, Shaker would go on an 8-0 run - including a pair of driving layups from Carrington and ending with another Carter bucket - to tie it up at 42. Colonie would eventually the quarter up 3 after a drive & finish from Wright to end it on a positive note for the hosts. They would continue that energy into the 4th quarter to gain separation once again. Sareena DiCerbo (Colonie 2020) scored to start the 4th, and by the time Pearson added a three-point play off a drive from the left wing, Colonie had gone on a 10-2 run with 5 different Raiders in on the scoring. That put them up 54-45 with 4:30 left. The Bison had one more serious push left in them, though. A 6-0 run culminating with another Carrington layup cut their deficit to 3 with under two minutes left. After a timeout, Colonie was able to get a much needed basket to stop the bleeding. Kyara Triblet (Colonie 2019; St. Michael's signee) found Alivia Paeglow (Colonie 2019) wide open off a side ball screen, who finished late in the shot clock. After a couple empty possessions, DeBeatham answered to cut it to 3 once more with :28.6 left, but Colonie sandwiched a stop in between 4 made free throws to put the game on ice.

Julia DeBeatham had a solid game for Shaker, finishing with 13 points & 3 steals as part of a potent backcourt combo.

The hosts received great balance from some of their usual suspects in the win. Aliyah Wright paced them with 15 points, and backcourt mate Ahnalese Pearson had a strong game & finished with 14. Makayla Blake added 11 points, and Kyara Triblet joined her in double digits with 10. For Shaker, Solé Carrington led all scorers with 22 points & added 4 steals. Julia DeBeatham added 13 points & 3 steals in what proved to be a potent backcourt punch on this night.


#JeffsNotes

- I should start off by saying that on this night, this rivalry game was certainly bigger than basketball. The raffles, the decorations, the halftime contest, the pink shirts. Tuesday night's Coaches vs. Cancer game had someone close to home in mind. You may have seen the #ShootingForSyd trend on social media. Proceeds through various outlets during the game - donations, raffles, bake sale, 50/50 - went to support young Sydney Leonard, a relative of both Shaker player Maddisyn Mahoney & Colonie assistant coach Tanya Hansen, who was diagnosed with Wilms' tumor a few months ago. A quality game around quality people with funds going to a fantastic cause. The atmosphere during the game was more of a playoff feeling, but it was also great to see the sides come together for an aforementioned 'bigger than basketball' moment.

- Now about the game itself. I'll give everyone on a team $20 if they can find a way to stay in front of Solé Carrington this winter... just kidding, I'm too broke for that. But the sentiment remains. I've watched Shaker three times so far this winter, and the 2021 PG might as well pay rent in the paint with how much she has been living there. The scouting report on her has read that she wants to get to the rim for a while, but what has changed is how she does it. She's becoming much more effective at using change-of-speed moves & changing her own center of gravity. She's getting defenders to step back onto their heels or stand up straight, and that's all she needs to be able to blow by. Considering the opponent and how she was able to produce on top of the actual numbers, this was one of the best overall showings I've seen from her. It's safe to say that Solé has been a breakout performer in the Suburban Council and Section 2 as a whole this winter.

When Ahnalese Pearson produces, it's a major stimulant for the Colonie team - she had 14 in their win Tuesday, including a personal 7-0 run in the 1st half.

- Colonie, the defending Class AA champions in Section 2, have taken a couple lumps this year. They fell victim to a bit of a slow start in a tough early-mid December schedule, and they also had a tough loss to Shen last week. But they are still and will continue to be a tough out for any AA team once we get into sectional season because of how many options they have on the offensive end. They have six players that are perfectly capable of giving them double digit production on any given night. Four of them did on Tuesday (Aliyah Wright, Ahnalese Pearson, Makayla Blake, Kyara Triblet). Sareena DiCerbo, who had just 3 points in this game, was averaging over 10 PPG going into Tuesday. Alivia Paeglow (4 points) is a longtime varsity producer that's given them 9+ points in over half of their games this winter. When any combination of them get it going, their ability to spread the wealth can provide issues for many teams on the defensive end, and I'm sure they won't be high on the wish list of teams to see on their side of the bracket for anyone in S2 AA in a month.