Shaker Finishes Strong in Back & Forth Affair With Colonie

February 18, 2021

Shaker 51, Colonie 36

Basketball in Albany County! Crosstown foes Colonie and Shaker made up for 11 months of lost time, playing a season opener that felt like a full season in 32 minutes. The final twist of the night went Shaker's way, and the hosts took control for good in the 4th quarter to earn a victory.

KJ Gordon finished with 12 points, including 2 big threes to help kickstart Shaker's 2nd half run, in their win Thursday.

Anyone that only watched the 1st quarter likely wouldn't believe that it got competitive. The first 8 minutes were all Shaker, as the hosts dominated at both ends to jump to a big lead. Solé Carrington (Shaker 2021) hit a three on their opening possession, and they were off to the races from there with an impressive performance at both ends. They got balanced production early with five players scoring in the opening stanza, and that was five more players scoring than Colonie had as Shaker stormed to a 16-0 lead after 1. Colonie finally got on the board after 8:54 of action with an Ava Pearson (Colonie 2023) three, which started their own push forward. After a Kaelah Carter (Shaker 2022) trey extended their lead back to 16 at 21-5, Colonie went on an extended run of their own with 13 straight points - 9 from behind the arc including a pair of threes from Bella Franchi (Colonie 2023). The big run helped Colonie trim its deficit to 22-18 at the break.

Colonie carried its momentum forward into the 3rd quarter. A Maddisyn Mahoney (Shaker 2021; Fairleigh Dickinson signee) bucket was sandwiched by a pair of Franchi scores, then Jayla Tyler (Colonie 2023) gave the visitors their first lead at 25-24 with a corner three of her own. They extended their lead to as much as 4 on two occasions, the latter being another Tyler bucket that pushed it to 30-26. However, just as Colonie seemingly flipped a switch and turned the tide, Shaker did the same from there. The lead switched hands on three consecutive baskets late in the 3rd, with a Mahoney bucket at the 1:59 mark giving Shaker the lead for good at 33-32. KJ Gordon (Shaker 2021) canned a three after that to push their lead to 4 after three quarters. 

The 4th quarter went much like the 1st, as Shaker used a strong defensive performance and production from the post & perimeter to push forward, particularly an onslaught from Mahoney as they made an effort to get post touches. Colonie continued to scrap and it remained a 4 point game with just over 4 minutes left. However, they'd be held scoreless from there as Shaker scored the game's last 11 points. It started with a Carter three and included 6 points from Mahoney, and they pulled away and were able to breathe more easily in the waning moments.

Maddisyn Mahoney pumped in a game high 20 points in Shaker's win with 10 coming in the 4th quarter. KJ Gordon and Kaelah Carter joined her in double digits, contributing 11 & 10 points, respectively. On Colonie's end, Bella Franchi contributed a team high 12 points, all of them coming in a stretch of less than 10 minutes spanning the 2nd & 3rd quarters. Jayla Tyler joined her in double digits with 11 points.

Jayla Tyler was one of two in double digits for Colonie, finishing with 11 on the night.

#ThoughtsFromTheBaseline

- Shaker basically always brings it on the defensive end. With relentless guards like KJ Gordon & Solé Carrington, a versatile & disciplined defender like Kaelah Carter, and a post defender like Maddi Mahoney that you never have to worry about doubling with, the personnel allows them to be a very successful man-to-man defensive team. Holding a team to 4 points in the 1st & 4th quarters is a little crazy, but they can produce those type of nights. Their ability to score in the half-court over those stretches probably caught my eye a little more. I wouldn't have called it their strength in the past, but if they can string stretches like that together & do it consistently, it makes them particularly tough. It sounds simple, but when they had success, they moved the ball well and finished plays by taking & making good shots. KJ is a much improved shooter. Kaelah & Solé hit perimeter shots. They did enough of that to force Colonie to extend to them, which gave Maddi - who had a noticeable size advantage, a common occurrence - room to work in the post when she touched it. They had their rocky moments - first game since the onset of a global pandemic will do that - but a nice showing overall.

- This was one of those nights where I legitimately liked a lot of what I saw from both teams, because I have some positivity to send Colonie's way too. Already a team on the younger end that graduated three college players in 2020 including their PG & their size, they were without the services of Macie Trimarchi, a 2022 that's one of their main returners. With that, they had to ask for increased production out of other core kids, including a bunch of 2023s (Bella Franchi, Ava Pearson, Jayla Tyler) and a 2024 (Gabby Martin). After a nightmare start where they get blanked in the 1st quarter, some players/teams might play dead. Not this group. They stayed in the fight, started stringing together some stops, and they started to run. Although it didn't result in many transition scoring opportunities, it just opened up the court some more and forced Shaker into more of a reactive position defensively. They got some perimeter looks, knocked them down, and we had a game. It turned more sour late - whether it was because of a refocused Shaker or Colonie running out of gas, probably some of both - but the competitiveness to dig in & respond from the first 8 minutes was impressive in itself.

Maddisyn Mahoney had a big night with an impressive 4th quarter showing, where she scored 10 of her game high 20 for Shaker.

- Colonie dealt with it today, but this goes for nearly every team in Section 2. If Maddi Mahoney is connecting from 12' & in and stays out of foul trouble enough to play big 2nd half minutes at full motor, best of luck to you. This is something I talked about at length last year, but improved conditioning has allowed her to not only continue battling into late game situations, but wear her opponents down in the process. I think she's become more mobile since last year, which allows her to grab rebounds out of her area. Along with putbacks & layups, she connected with the jump hook over the left shoulder, a couple 12' jumpers, and showed softer touch getting it on the rim & finishing through contact. She's got the kind of strength that you can count the amount of girls in upstate NY that can match it on one hand, so she's a particularly unique matchup. Too strong, too tough. If she stays injury free and continues on this track, she could be a real problem in the NEC at Fairleigh Dickinson.

- I've been a little vocal about it but not as vocal as I could be - it's been brutal trying to get into Section 2 gyms this winter. The acceptance of media in area facilities has been CONSIDERABLY less than what I've experienced in other sections to this point... so when a district allows it, I'm particularly appreciative. THANK YOU to Shaker head coach Jaimee Shipley and all of the Shaker athletic administration for allowing me (and other media members that stopped by) to check this one out!