GLENS FALLS — Even people without extensive basketball knowledge understood where the ball was going to end up for the Ballston Spa boys’ basketball team in the final 10 seconds Thursday evening at Cool Insuring Arena. The Scotties trailed by one point and ran a play for senior point guard Nick Verdile, the team’s leading scorer who tallied 36 points in his previous outing.
In the sequence, Verdile went from one side of the floor, down along the baseline and curled around a screen to receive a pass in front of his team’s bench. The player largely responsible for an incredible rally against Green Tech was not able to deliver the crescendo he or his teammates hoped for.
Verdile shot from 3-point range was too long and the Eagles managed to escape with a thrilling 59-58 victory over top-seeded Ballston Spa.
“I have been telling these guys all season long that we played the schedule we did for this moment,” said a relieved Green Tech coach D.J. Jones. “The bigger the moment, the bigger these guys show.”
The fifth-seeded Eagles (16-7) return to action Saturday at Cool Insuring Arena for the championship game against second-seeded Christian Brothers Academy (15-6), a 56-43 winner against Saratoga Springs in Thursday’s first semifinal. Game time is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. and it is a rematch of a 2022 final won by Green Tech 63-54.
Green Tech and CBA met Jan. 3 and the Brothers prevailed 47-43 in double overtime.
“We’re expecting another great one Saturday,” said Jones, who led the Eagles to the state final last year.
The Eagles’ dramatic win Thursday, one in which they momentarily surrendered all of a 19-point lead built midway through the second quarter, proved to be a tremendous response after Verdile (game-high 28 points) guided the Scotties (20-2) back from the brink to have a chance to prevail in dramatic fashion.
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