By Jordan J. Michael

GUILDERLAND –– The Dutchmen varsity basketball team lost a close game to Saratoga in the early stages of the season. Guilderland returned the favor on Tuesday.

The Dutch seemed sluggish in the first half, down 21 to 20, but the team got fired up and outscored the Blue Streaks by 17 points in the third quarter. Guilderland won, 71-61, behind 20-point games by both Kevin Kost and Jon Terry.

“We gelled in the second half and didn’t back down,” said Terry. “Saratoga is highly ranked and they already beat us once. We played our best basketball of the year in the third quarter.”

Guilderland Head Coach Ron Osinski told The Enterprise that the second half plan was to attack Saratoga’s two-three zone defense. The plan worked as the Dutchmen went ahead by as much as 17 in the third quarter.

“I wasn’t pleased with the offense in the first half, so I drew something up in the locker room,” said Osinski. “We opened their zone up and the shots started dropping right out of the gate. Saratoga’s intensity started to decrease.”

The Dutchmen were coming off a crushing 49-to-47 home loss to Bethlehem on Friday. “That loss was rough and it set us back a little,” Osinski said. “We really need to finish the games we’re supposed to win.”

From blue to red

The first quarter was low scoring, ending with an 8-to-7 Saratoga lead. The Blue Streaks’ Zach Arpey drilled two consecutive jumpers from a decent distance and Guilderland’s Isiah Folds added one of his own.

The scoring for both teams picked up in the second quarter, but the Dutchmen’s shooting was still looking a little lackluster. James Tucker started to get penetration inside for Saratoga and the Blue Streaks’ lead was 19 to 10.

Terry made an incredible slice through the lane for a score and that was immediately followed by a Kost finish off a steal at mid court. Guilderland was down by three, 19-16.

“Terry has made a noteworthy comeback this season,” said Osinski, after the game. “He had mono and missed three games. Then, he came back, but had pain in his knees. I think this was his best game of the year.”

Pat Quinn added a fade-away jumper to close the Guilderland gap to one before the halftime buzzer sounded. Saratoga led, 21 to 20. Quinn finished the game with 12 points.

“Quinn had 28 points against them in the first game, but we lost by five,” Osinski said. “His energy and passion can really catch opponents off guard.”

The Blue Streaks lost control of the Dutchmen in the third quarter and looked weak against the offensive attack. Kost, Terry, Chris Mannarino, and Andre Brown put on an impressive display of passing and finishing for Guilderland.

Brown had all his eight points in the third, showing off his skills under the basket. The Dutchmen led, 45 to 29, as the third quarter closed. Saratoga was completely shut down.

“Brown has come a long way over the stretch of this season,” said Terry. “He took a couple of years off from competitive basketball. He started out slow but he’s coming alive now. It’s nice to have another threat down low.”

Guilderland’s strong showing continued in the fourth quarter and the closest Saratoga got was within 10 points. The Blue Streaks started an aggressive foul process with 2:30 remaining. The team hoped to come back.

The Dutchmen sank 14 of 18 foul shots in the final two minutes. Terry added a serious slam-dunk toward the end that sent the home fans into a frenzy. Guilderland won, 71-61.

“We didn’t necessarily think the game was over but that fouling was pretty excessive,” said Osinski. “We just had more energy than they did and I was happy with our defense and rebounding.”

The Dutch move to 7-3 overall, 5-1 in the Suburban Council. Guilderland hosts Averill Park on Friday.

“We’re faced with a lot of games because of the snow days,” Osinski said. “It’s something like five games in eight days. That’s very rare for high school sports. Hopefully, we’ll pull through.”