SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs basketball program is coming off a season partly defined by its first sectional win in seven years. Last year’s team went into Schenectady as the No. 5 seed in the Class AA tournament and walked out with the victory and arguably their most well-played game of the season.
Second year head coach Matt Usher is hopeful that the Section II tournament experience has altered the outlook for Blue Streaks post-season basketball compared to recent years and has shown his players how clicking at the right time is more important than anything.
“Hopefully, expectations have changed,” Usher said. “Some of these kids got a taste of what it’s like to get a sectional win and go down and play in a hostile environment.”
Last year’s team also had the experience of playing at Hudson Valley, where the Streaks lost to Shenendehowa in the quarterfinals.
The Streaks (0-1) have nine seniors, many of whom will be getting court time.
“I’m really excited about [the seniors’] approach to practice day in and day out,” Usher said. “They’re work ethic and their attitudes are going to help us get better through the course of this season and that’s something that, in the big scheme of things, that’s what it’s all about—getting better in December through February, so that come sectional time, that’s when we’re peaking and playing our best ball. That’s something, with this group, I feel confident in because of their work ethic and their attitude and ability to be coached.”
That group includes guard Chris Byno, who was the No. 2 scoring option after Noah Arciero for most of last year. With Arciero, an All-Suburban dynamic scorer, gone, Byno will have to be one of the players to step up this season.
Also in that mix are seniors Sean Grecco, Jordan Buchas and 6-foot-4-inch Liam Stewart.
“It’s going to be an adjustment that the players have to make,” said Usher in regards to the team’s offensive identity. “We’re still trying to learn our new roles and figure out where we’re going to get our points from on a consistent basis. I think we’re going to have three or four guys who could lead us in scoring every night. We’re not going to have one guy we can count on for 15-20 every night he steps on the floor. It’s a good thing in some ways because it can be tough to key in on us.”
Look for seniors Zach Kircher and Jack Herman to make contributions this season as well as junior Alex Skaine.
“This group is a fun group of kids,” Usher said. “They work hard and they’re very tight. They’re not scared. They’re not the kind of group that is worried about who they’re squaring off against, whether it’s Shaker or Shen. So that’s fun. It’s nice to know that they’re going to come out and fight, scrap and claw the whole way like we did Tuesday. We just came up short.”
In Tuesday’s season opener, Saratoga Springs fell behind Niskayuna early and could not close the gap, as they ended up losing by three, 45-42. Now, the Blue Streaks have a crucial three-game homestand against Shaker, Shenendehowa and Averill Park, starting tonight against the Blue Bison (1-0), who beat down Burnt Hills 60-28 Tuesday.
“Any given night in our league you can beat anybody or lose to anybody,” Usher said. “If you don’t show up and take care of business, and you don’t win the games that you have an opportunity to win, you’re going to have a tough season. We’re going to have to defend our home floor and come out and play our best. Hopefully we’ll come out with some W’s.”
Working aggressively on the boards will have to be another conscious effort, said Usher, as the Blue Streaks play bigger teams like the Shen’s in the Suburban.
“With this group and our lack of size, defense and rebounding are two things that we need to do,” Usher said. “We’re going to be playing against teams where we’re giving up height and size and we’re going to have to neutralize that with our team defense and our attention to boxing out and getting rebounds every possession. We can’t afford to give up put-backs and easy buckets. Otherwise we’re going to be on the short end of the stick.”
Tonight’s game against Shaker is set to tip off at 7 p.m., as the Blue Streaks look to get their first tally in the win column.
