GUILDERLAND — Jimmy Googas’s 18 points paced the Guilderland boys’ basketball team as it stayed alive in the Section II playoffs.

The Dutchmen beat Saratoga, 70-58, on Friday night at Shaker High School in a play-in game in the Class AA tournament. The game was played at Shaker because the clocks at Guilderland were not working.

The win moved Guilderland to a first-round contest on Wednesday against Big 10 league champion and number-one seed Christian Brothers Academy.
"We knew if we wanted to continue we had to pick up our intensity on defense," said Guilderland Coach Ron Osinski. "We knew we had to do better. For whatever reason, we didn’t step it up that day."

The Dutchmen had lost to Saratoga last Tuesday, 75-69.

In Friday’s game, the Dutchmen trailed after the first quarter, 15-13, but used a good mix of offense and defense to outscore the Blue Streaks, 19-11, in the frame. Guilderland led, 32-26, at halftime.

The Dutch then outscored Saratoga, 15-12, in the third quarter and 23-20 in fourth quarter to make up the 12-point final margin.

Sophomore Brett Marfurt scored 14 points for Guilderland. Senior Matt Doherty and sophomore Drew Smith each added 11 points for the Dutchmen.
"Jimmy played well," Osinski said. "Brett played well and Drew Smith had some nice shots later in the game."

Garrett Bishop led Saratoga with 26 points. Freshman Jordan Stevens added 17 points for the Blue Streaks.
"We wanted to keep them from getting open looks," Osinski said. "And we basically did it. The key was holding Jordan Stevens to under 20. Garrett Bishop got off but it was later."

The Dutchmen also shot better in Friday’s game than they had on Tuesday.
"We did not take as many shots," Osinski said. "We took 77 shots on Tuesday and we did not have as many this time and we still scored 70. I think we shot better and our shot selection was good."

The Dutch did struggle from the free-throw line, hitting just 17 out of 30 attempts.

Osinski was pleased the way the Dutch bounced back against the same team that had trounced them just three nights earlier.
"We played one night and got beat pretty good," the coach said. "I looked at the film and saw that we did not contest shots. We did that this time. The shots they got were fade-aways."

The play-in game determined the eighth and final Suburban Council seed for the sectionals. Guilderland finished the league season with a 5-9 record and Saratoga was 4-10.

The Dutchmen lived to play another day, but now face the top-seeded CBA squad.
"It’s not one of my easier games," Osinski said. "We’ve just got to do what we’ve been doing all year and do it better. We have to have our best play going up there. We have to play the best we can and I don’t think I’ve seen it. Stranger things have happened."