Albany Academy’s second-half shutdown of Saranac lands Bears in regionals

AVERILL PARK, N.Y. ( NEWS10 ) — Defense is at the heart of what Albany Academy girls basketball does. The intensity and relentlessness the Bears bring on that half off the floor is what has them moving on to the regional round of the Class B state tournament.

The No. 1 ranked team in the state for Class B – Albany Academy took down sixth-ranked Saranac out of Section VII, 46-30, in the sub-regional round held out at Averill Park Wednesday night.

The Bears overcame a rare halftime deficit, holding the Spartans to just two field goals in the entirety of the second half.

“Defense wins games; we put all of our heart into defense,” said sophomore guard Alex Leonard. “Every team can play offense, but special teams can play defense. And I would say we’re a special team that plays defense.”

“Special” is the only word fitting to describe Academy’s defensive performance after emerging from the locker room trailing 24-23.

After tying the game at 27, junior Emily Thornton knocked down a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:18 remaining in the third quarter, giving the Bears a three-point edge heading into the final stanza.

Academy went into total shut-down mode defensively from there, allowing just three points over the last eight minutes of game action. The offense finally came to life as well in the quarter, as the Bears outscored Saranac 16-3 during that span.

“The girls just locked in,” said Albany Academy head coach Bryan Capitula. “They wanted it more in the second half than I feel like they even wanted it in the first half. We had a good locker room speech where the captains kind of led the locker room talk; I didn’t have to say much, so that’s always good when you have leaders from inside the team.”

Wednesday’s game was just the fourth time all season that the Bears trailed at halftime. All told, they outscored Saranac 23-6 in the second half.

“We know what it takes to win games; we’ve been in positions like this before,” said Leonard. “Defense is what comes out [on top] with games that close.”

What makes the victory even more impressive is that Academy scored a season-low 46 points, and still beat a top-six team in the state tournament by double-digits.

“I can’t say enough about these kids,” said Capitula. “They just keep fighting. They weren’t ready to be done yet.”

Leonard led all scorers with 16 points.

Albany Academy (20-3) will face off with Section X’s Gouverneur in regionals Saturday. That game will be held at SUNY Potsdam at 1:00 p.m.

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