GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland boys’ basketball team ran into a more experienced foe on Tuesday night.

The Dutchmen were beaten by a senior-laden Niskayuna team, losing 55-34.

Niskayuna brought 10 seniors into Tuesday’s game; some have been starters on the varsity since they were sophomores.
"We have to go back to the drawing board," said Guilderland Coach Ron Osinski. "That is a very good team. They exploited a lot of our weaknesses. Our execution needs to get better."

Niskayuna took the lead early and never relented in the contest.

Guilderland scored first on a fast-break lay-up by Jimmy Googas after a steal by Matt Doherty.

But Niskayuna took the lead on a three-pointer by John Koch. That started an 11-0 run, which included another three-pointer by Koch and one by Larry Ritter.

Doherty ended the run by making a jump shot for Guilderland.

Niskayuna ended the first quarter with a 13-6 lead.

Guilderland cut the lead to four points early in the second quarter. After a drive to the basket by Niskayuna’s Phil Rollins, Guilderland scored six points on two consecutive three-point shots by Nick Zarelli and Googas.

But the Dutch would not get any closer as the Silver Warriors outscored the Dutch in the second period by a 21-10 margin.

Niskayuna led 34-16 at halftime.
"We were off all night and they shot the ball well," Osinski said. "Koch made four or five threes. I don’t think he has ever had a game like that."

The second half was just a formality as the Dutchmen played better but the game was out of reach.
"They had three-year starters," Osinski said. "They were head-and-shoulders above us. We had kids that have never started on the varsity here before."

The Dutchmen struggled on offense for most of the game and relied on the outside shot too much, especially in the early going. The Dutch also struggled rebounding the basketball.
"We have problems with boxing out and rebounding the basketball," Osinski said. "They are basic fundamentals of basketball.
"They still only scored 55 points," Osinski added. "Considering the whole scenario, they did not score a lot of points."

Googas led the Dutchmen with 12 points and sophomore Brett Marfurt added 10. Niskayuna was led by Brian Grastorf’s 12 points. Koch scored 12 and Ritter scored eight. Ten players scored for the Silver Warriors.

Beaten by Bisons

The loss comes after an impressive performance for the Dutchmen against Shaker. Guilderland lost to the Blue Bison by a score of 50-48 last Tuesday. Shaker got some late free throws by Georgia Tech-bound Brad Sheehan to get the win.
"I thought we could build on that game," Osinski said. "We lost the game but we played well. We got some pretty good looks at the basket but we did not knock down the shots."

Googas led the Dutchmen with 16 points. Matt Doherty added 15 points and Luke Pagano chipped in with seven.

Sheehan, who is 6 feet, 10 inches tall, led the Blue Bison with 16 points.

The loss drops the Dutchmen to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the Suburban Council. They host Saratoga on Friday and Burnt Hills on Tuesday. The Dutch then travel to Mohonasen next Thursday before hosting the Dutch Classic on Dec. 27 and 29.