GUILDERLAND — The Guilderland boys’ basketball team came out with intensity and wore down rival Bethlehem in the opening round of the Dutch Holiday Classic on Tuesday night.

The Dutchmen jumped out to an early lead, fell behind, but then came back in the second half to blow away the Eagles, 60-40.

Guilderland will play Troy in the championship game on Thursday at 9 p.m.
"We talk all the time about playing with energy for the whole game," said Guilderland Coach Ron Osinski. "We can’t take any breaks, and for the most part we did that. We have to play loose and not get tight. There is no reason for that and we have to make our own breaks."

Guilderland led, 11-4, at the end of the first quarter and held a 28-27 halftime lead — after giving up 23 points in the second frame.

Bethlehem took the lead on a lay-up by Craig Orner. Guilderland answered on a three-point basket by Mark Domaracki.

Bethlehem tied the game, 31-31, on a shot by Kevin Stempsey.

The teams traded buckets before Guilderland took the lead for good on back-to-back three-point shots.

Jimmy Googas hit the first one to give the Dutch a 34-31 lead with 5:46 left in the third quarter. Thirty seconds later, Luke Pagano made it a six-point lead with a three-pointer.

Bethlehem then got an inside basket by Bill Yates and then didn’t make another field goal until a three-pointer with one second left in the quarter. The Eagles made just two foul shots in the 4:57 between the two field goals.

The offense got worse for the Eagles, as they didn’t score a point in the final stanza.

"All played equally"

Guilderland didn’t set the world on fire with their offense but the nine points it scored in the fourth quarter was more than enough.

The Dutchmen got five players in double figures in scoring on Tuesday night.

Googas and sophomore Brett Marfurt each scored 13 points to lead the Dutch. Doherty scored 11 points and Pagano and Domaracki each added 10 points.
"I think this is the first time that the kids all played equally," Osinski said. "I don’t think we’ve had that before. Mark Domaracki had probably his best game and Matt Doherty got his confidence back. He took the ball to the basket the way he should always be able to do. We got good play off the bench and that helped us a lot."

Osinski added that the Dutch don’t have that one go-to player that can put up a lot of points.
"We don’t have a guy that can put up 25 points when we need it," the coach said. "A stat I feel is important, but we don’t keep, is the guy who sets up the guy who gets the assist. We need to get a bunch of guys in double digits. If we can get five guys in that territory and get help off the bench, we can get in the 50- to 60-point range. Our defense, then, should be able to help us."

"Working on things"

The outcome of the contest was the best of the season for the Dutch. They picked up their third win of the season and did it in impressive fashion over a good Suburban Council team.

But Osinski said that his team has been putting time in at the gym and had to overcome a difficult stretch in the schedule.
"We’re working on things," the coach said. "Our goal is to improve every day. Our schedule did not help. We had cancellations on two Fridays and we couldn’t get into a flow. We played some good teams early and that could do you in early. I think it hurt our pysche."

Many of the Guilderland players came into the season with a lot of minutes under their belts.
"We have a lot of inexperience," Osinski said. "We have a couple of players that never have really started and now are getting a lot of major minutes."

The Dutch hold a win over Berkshire in the consolation game of the Niskayuna Tournament and a close win over league rival Mohonasen, who is headed by former Guilderland assistant coach Ken Dagostino.

Guilderland has losses to Bishop Maginn — in the Niskayuna Tournament — and lost to the top two teams in the Suburban Council Shaker and Niskayuna. The Dutch also lost to league rival Burnt Hills.
"We’re plugging away at practice," Osinski said. "Hopefully, by the end of the year, we’ll be playing our best basketball."