Class AA Title Game Reactions

Ahhhh, the Section II season is officially over after the completion of last night's Class AA finals at the Times Union Center.

Congratulations to the Bethlehem Girls and the Shen boys on winning the Class AA championships and advancing on to the New York State Tournament.

My take on last night's action:

Boys: Shen 47, Guilderland 42

This game wasn't as close as the final score indicated. Shen's stifling defense made it very difficult for the Dutchmen to score. We knew Shen would key on Andrew Platek (9 points), and Guilderland just couldn't get a lot going from the rest of its offense. Ralph Simeone (7 points) and Michael Wine (7 points) had a hard time knocking down the outside shot and that didn't make Shen pay for focusing on Platek.

Guilderland did get the ball inside to Andrew Sischo in the second half, as he finished with 17 points, but the Dutchmen didn't establish him early enough.

For Shen, Kevin Huerter led the way with 20 points while Thomas Huerter had 10. No other Plainsman player had more than seven. It wasn't a pretty offensive performance for the Green and White, but Huerter's clutch outside shooting, and the team defense, allowed Shen to walk away with the first Section II title for the Suburban Council since 2000.

Girls: Bethlehem 55, Shen 46

Two words. Giacone sisters. Gabby had 25 points and Jenna had 18, and the Plainsmen had no answers. We said yesterday that Bethlehem needed to get big performances from the duo -- and they did just that.

Furthermore, the Eagles needed to limit the production from Shen's stars. And they did just that as well. Sydney Brown had her typical 12 points but BC held Carly Boland to just eight.

Shen never got in a rhythm offensively and only hit 2 three-pointers, which didn't make a comeback any easier.