GUILDERLAND — The shot glanced off the rim as the final seconds ticked on the clock. As the ball fell away so did the hopes of the Guilderland boys’ basketball team.

The Dutchmen lost their chance to send Friday’s game into overtime and keep the hope alive for a Suburban Council Gold Division championship and a spot in the tournament of champions at the league’s tournament. Also probably gone now is a good Section II Class AA playoff seeding.

The missed shot was not to blame for Guilderland’s 42-39 loss to Columbia. Nor should the shooter, Drew Smith, be blamed. The Dutch lost the game in the third quarter when they were outscored, 13-5.
"We can’t score," said Guilderland Coach Ron Osinski after the game. "We need to score 50 to 60 points a night. We’re taking bad shots and we’re not taking good shots."
What about the third quarter"
"It was tremendously bad," Osinski said. "Each shot was worse than the next. In the fourth, we relaxed and got back into it."

Fighting back

The Dutchmen outscored the Blue Devils, 16-12, in the final frame to claw their way back into the contest.

Guilderland had trailed, 30-23, at the end of the third quarter and 33-25 after a three-pointer by Travis Jones.

The Dutch came back with an inside basket by Steven Doak and a three-point basket by Brett Marfurt to cut the lead to three points, 33-30, with 4:38 to go in the contest.

After a foul shot by Columbia, Guilderland senior Mark Domaracki tipped in a missed shot to cut the lead to two points. A floater in the lane by Adama Diggs was again answered by Domaracki as he got in position and tipped in another missed shot.

Diggs again gave his team a four-point lead on a lay-up and built the lead to six by knocking down a pair of free throws.

Domaracki scored on a drive to the basket to give the Dutch a chance with 37 seconds left.

Guilderland was forced to foul and Jones made one of two attempts from the line as did Diggs to make the lead six points. 42-36.

Then Smith made a three-point shot with seven seconds left in the game. After a Guilderland timeout, the Columbia in-bounds pass was stolen by Doak, and the Dutch passed the ball around until Smith got open and took the final shot with one second left. The ball hit the rim and fell away and Columbia escaped going into an extra session with the Dutchmen.
"Our defense was tremendous," Osinski said. "We held a team to 42 points that scored 67 against Saratoga on Tuesday. In every game, we struggle for the first 31 minutes. Then we play and are not thinking about decisions; they just do the things. They are not looking for people. I’m not sure we’re playing together as a team. Not everybody knows what everybody is doing. They don’t see their cuts and moves. And that is an advantage for the defensive planning.
"Frustrated"
"The kids are frustrated," Osinski said referring to players who have been injured, or sick this season. He went on, "They’ve been waiting to get all together and then they don’t play well. We don’t have a lot of basketball left. And we’ll probably get a low seed."

Marfurt led the Dutchmen with 13 points. Smith and Domaracki each added 11 points, but Guilderland only had two other players score. Doak and Dan Gejay had two points each.

Diggs led the Blue Devils with 12 points and Jones added 11.
"We couldn’t get anything going," Domaracki said. "And, when we did, it was too late."

Osinski said that the Dutchmen aren’t doing in games, what they do in practices.
"We have game slippage," the coach said. "We don’t relay what we do in practice to the games. And no one is taking charge on the court.
"We have two co-captains but they are not vocal. We have three games left to right the ship. I don’t know if that is possible. It’s up to them to play to their capabilities. Everybody is trying to do too much themselves."

Osinski is not sure what he can do to get the players going for their final game — Tuesday against Bethlehem — and for the Suburban Council Tournament and then sectionals. The Dutchmen bounced back to beat the Eagles, 73-48, and with Ballston Spa’s upset of Columbia the Dutchmen and the Blue Devils are tied for the top spot in the Gold Division.
"We’re trying to get in a flow," Domaracki said. "It’s just a matter of time. Then we’ll be firing on all cylinders. It’s going to happen."
"We were in a hurry to score," Osinski said of Friday’s game. "We forced shots instead of having patience. There’s not any one person to blame. We shoot threes, and when we miss, the ball comes out to the foul line and they had two guys there to rebound."

But the losses aren’t due to a lack of effort. The Dutch come to play on the defensive end every game.
"We did a good job on Jones," Domaracki said. "We played good team defense."
"Defensively," Osinski said. "I give all the kids credit. They don’t die on defense."