GUILDERLAND — The Mohonasen boys’ basketball team threw a little confusion into Friday’s game with Guilderland and came out with a win.

The Guilderland offense struggled though it had a chance to win at the buzzer, but Mohonasen prevailed, 45-44.
"We didn’t rebound well and we didn’t recognize their defense well," said Guilderland Coach Ron Osinski. "It was a combination of that and we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well. They did a good job on offense and on the offensive boards. But we had just as many offensive rebounds as them. They just scored on their’s and we didn’t on ours."

Despite the offensive struggles, the Dutchmen had a shot to beat Mohonasen, which is coached by former Guilderland assistant coach, Ken Dagostino. The Dutch stayed within four points of the Warriors for most of the game and trailed by one, 34-33, at the end of the third quarter.

The teams traded baskets throughout the entire fourth period before the Dutchmen had a couple of chances.

With the score 45-44 in the final seconds, the Dutchmen were able to rebound a missed free throw and move the ball up the court.

Steven Doak got the ball at the top of the key, worked the clock down, and fired a jump shot with about six seconds left. The ball clanked off the rim but fell to the hands of teammate Brett Marfurt who had a close-range shot and put it up with just a second left. Marfurt’s shot bounced off the rim, after appearing it was heading in, and fell away as the Mohonasen players jumped in celebration.
"We did everything right in the last 40 to 50 seconds," Osinski said. "We fouled them and they missed their free throws. It was there for us to win. But it was mistakes that we made earlier that got us to that point. We made a lot of errors."

Mohonasen made only one of four attempts from the foul line in the final 1:09 to keep Guilderland in the contest. But Guilderland only got one foul shot from Mark Domaracki in the end and couldn’t catch the Warriors.

Domaracki dominates

Domaracki was the big gun for the Dutchmen on Friday, scoring 28 points. He scored nine of those points — including two three-pointers — in the fourth quarter to keep the Dutch in the game.

Mohonasen was able to shut down Marfurt, Guilderland’s leading scorer heading into the game. The Warriors held the Dutchmen junior to just six points. Doak and Taylor Walden each scored three points. But Guilderland didn’t have another player who scored more than that in the contest. Uwana Okure and Dan Gejay made the scoring column with two points apiece.
"When we were winning, we were playing well," Osinski said. "Everybody was scoring well and we got some points off the bench. And we need to get back to that. We can’t have one guy scoring 20-some points. We are capable of doing that."

The Warriors were led by Cameron Couball’s 15 points. Jordan Macejka added 12 for Mohonasen as the Dutch did a good job on defense against 6 foot, 6 inch center Pat Barnes. Barnes tallied eight points for the Warriors.

The Dutch will need to clean up the mistakes that plagued them on Friday night.
"We need to sharpen up our errors," Osinski said. "We are not executing and we are out of position on out-of-bounds plays. We need to fix our turnovers and all the other things that happen over the course of a game."

The Dutch led after the first quarter 9-8, but trailed at halftime by three points, 24-21.

The return of injured junior Drew Smith will help the team. He is out for another month with a bone break in his hand.
"He does a lot of things for us," Osinski said.

Despite the loss, Osinski is pleased with the team’s effort late in the contest.
"The last two games we’ve played well late," the coach said. "Against Ballston Spa, we hung on to win and this one we did a good job of coming back. It was a winnable game. Hopefully, that pays dividends for us."

Guilderland did bounce back with a win on Tuesday over Suburban Council rival Colonie. The Dutchmen used 16 points from Domaracki and 11 from Jimmy Munsie to cruise to a 46-31 win.

The Dutch did not allow a Colonie player to reach double figures in scoring.

The Dutchmen will turn into road warriors for the next couple of weeks. They will play at Columbia on Friday and at Niskayuna on Tuesday before getting a break for Christmas. Guilderland then returns to the court at Columbia for the Columbia Holiday Tournament. The Dutch play against Christian Brothers Academy on Dec. 27 and then at Columbia the next night. The Dutch return home to face Saratoga on Jan. 5.