SCOTIA — In the hours leading up to Wednesday’s Section II basketball seeding meetings, teams having games Monday and Tuesday have the opportunity to make a late statement. They can be positive or negative. In the case of the Colonie boys’ basketball team, the Garnet Raiders certainly made a concerted effort Monday evening to end up on the positive side of the ledger.
Junior reserve Cam Curet came off the bench for Colonie and buried two 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds of the opening half to give the visitors their lone lead during the opening 16 minutes.
Despite several runs made by Mekeel Christian Academy during the second half, the Garnet Raiders always produced a response and never surrendered the lead after intermission in posting a solid 63-56 victory.
“That win brought a lot of confidence to the team,” Colonie senior guard Brandon Gordon said.
The Garnet Raiders (12-7) won 10 of their first 14 games, but have scuffled a bit down the stretch. Monday, multiple players stepped up to secure a vital victory as teams prepare for what appears to be a wide-open Class AA Tournament. MCA (13-5) was in excellent position to land a high seed a couple of weeks ago, but the Lions have dropped games to Catholic Central, Albany Academy and Colonie.
Monday, MCA led 14-10 after one quarter as it shot 4-for-7 from the floor. The Lions also turned the ball over eight times in the opening eight minutes and finished with 16 overall.
“We had too many empty possessions and missed free throws,” MCA coach Chad Bowman said.
Curet, who produced nine points on a trio of 3-pointers in limited action, helped turn a 25-22 deficit into a 28-27 halftime advantage by draining two 3-pointers.
“It felt amazing. It really did,” Curet said. “I’ve been shooting them all season, but they haven’t been going in. It felt really good to make…
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