State Champions

Section 2 had an outstanding year in the State tournament this year with 4 State Champions at 4 different levels in both boys and girls basketball.  Congratulations to the Troy girls, Watervliet, Lake George and Argyle boys for their title run through the state.  It's an amazing accomplishment and also really hard to do.

I was able to watch the three boys finals thanks to Time Warner Cable.  Agyle was so impressive in their win and it was unbelievable the rebounding advantage they had over a much bigger and taller team.  It just shows how with hustle and hard work you can still outplay someone who might be bigger faster and stronger.  To that point, no one showed more resolve in the Sectionals and State Tournament than Lake George.  I picked them to lose to Berne-Knox, who they beat by two, and Hoosic Valley, who they beat by three in sectionals.  In the State tournament they beat Moravia in OT after being down by 7 midway through the fourth quarter and beat Pine Plains for the title who started 5 kids 6'4" or taller.  Even the announcers on TV were amazed Lake George was even in the game.

After watching the first half, I still wasn't blown away by Lake George's athleticism (other than Joel Wincowski), but it's amazing how well they play together as a unit.  I don't mean to knock them and I hope it's not coming off that way, they are incredible athletes, it's just that they play better than athleticism would suggest (again, it's really hard to win a State title and you have to be really good to even get the chance to play for one).  It's a credit to each of the players on that team and their coach that they are able to play to a level greater than the sum of their parts.  It's something only a few teams can say and they were rewarded with a State title.

The Watervliet game had me worried, especially since I thought they would blow it open in the second half.  You have to admire their poise in the final minute of regulation to keep their head, make baskets and play outstanding defense.  Also their ability to shrug off losing a 16 point lead and having to go to overtime where they outscored Babylon by 12.

On the whole, I couldn't be more proud of the athletes from these four teams hailing from the section I where I live and was born and raised and from the classification, Class C, to which I belonged.  Congratulations again to everyone for an outstanding season!