GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland boys’ basketball team couldn’t ask for a better Thanksgiving weekend.

After feasting on turkey and all the trimmings on Thursday, the Dutchmen feasted on two Big 10 teams on Friday and Saturday.

Guilderland beat two teams from the other large-school conference in Section II and showed it is among the teams to beat in the Suburban Council on opening weekend.

The Dutchmen beat LaSalle Institute, 56-36, at home on Friday and them beat Albany High School, 60-43, at the SEFCU Center on the University at Albany campus on Saturday.
"I think we had first game jitters," said Guilderland Coach Ron Osinski after Friday’s game. "We’re usually scrimmaging still at this time for the past five or six years. We had officials and the whole ball of wax."

The Dutch got off to a slow start against LaSalle, as they did not pull away from the Cadets until the second half.

LaSalle scored only 12 points in the second half as Guilderland toughened up on defense and got stronger rebounding the ball.

Guilderland took a 29-24 lead at halftime, but LaSalle opened the third quarter strong. The Cadets scored the first four points of the game and tied the game on an basket with 5:11 in the third frame.
"They tied it 30-30 and I had to call a time out," Osinski said. "They played with more intensity at points early in the third. I don’t know if our conditioning came into play. I don’t know. I thought we weren’t tired later and I thought they were."

The Dutch outscored the Cadets, 11-2, for the rest of the third stanza and led 41-32 going into the fourth quarter.

The run was sparked by junior Brett Marfurt. He scored on a runner in the lane and then made a steal under his team’s basket and laid the ball in to give the Dutch a four-point lead.

The Dutch then got a three-point basket by Drew Smith, after a drive to the hoop by Mark Domaracki, and a basket off an offensive rebound by Taylor Walden.

The only LaSalle basket in that run was by Evan Ryan.

Guilderland held LaSalle to four points — one field goal — in the fourth quarter.

The Dutch scored 15 points in the final frame to pull away from the Cadets.

The scoring was capped on a jump shot by Quinn Connell with two seconds left.
"We recouped"

But the difference was that the Dutch got tougher in the second half.
"We did a better job on the boards in the second half," Osinski said. "We were giving them second and third shots in the first half. Every mistake we made on defense, they capitalized on."

Marfurt led the Dutch with 18 points. Domaracki added 10 points, Smith scored nine, and Dan Gejay chipped in with eight points.

LaSalle was led by Taj Alexander’s nine points.
"I thought we came out flat," Osinski said. "There were three or four shots we didn’t contest. They were getting shots 10 to 12 feet in. They were on a 6-1 run; all we got was a foul shot. We missed about three foul shots. I called time out and we recouped and went from there."

Osinski was pleased his team came away with a win against a tough Big 10 team while not playing well.
"The last couple of years, we’ve struggled with the Big 10," Osinski said. "I thought they were a pretty good team. They hurt us in the first half and they were a little bigger than us.
"But we are athletic as well," the coach added. "Drew is tough in the open court and on defense. We missed some early shots, but it is very, very early. But, other than that, this was a nice one. It was a good win."

Against Albany on Saturday, the Dutch were led by Marfurt’s 21 points. Domaracki added 14 and Stephen Doak scored nine points.

It was a different start to the season for the Dutchmen.
"It was good to start off with different teams," Osinski said. "Usually we’re in the Niskayuna Tournament. It’s a nice change of scenery. We don’t face teams we’ll see two or three times. LaSalle was a little bit bigger. But it’s not how big you are, it’s how big you play."

The Dutch will have some time off before they get into the Suburban Council season. Guilderland will host Ballston Spa on Dec. 5 and then host Mohonasen on Dec. 8 before playing its first away game at Colonie on Tuesday, Dec. 12.