What a weekend for High School Basketball in the Capital Region.
Not one, not two, not three ... BUT FOUR State Championships in boys basketball! And add Catholic Central's girls title, that makes five.
On Friday, Stillwater won their second state title in school history, knocking off Section 3's Marcellus 59-50 in a come from behind effort. Just like their State Semifinals against Woodlands where they looked done in the fourth quarter, they come back with life for the victory.
Lucas Lilac scored 21 points, going 8 for 13 from the field. Kaelan Leak added 12 points for the Warriors.
Stillwater is NYSPHSAA Class B State Champions! pic.twitter.com/H9E6vfiX9F
— Section 2 Athletics (@Sect2athletics) March 16, 2024
The state title is the first since legendary hall of famer coach Mike Lilac won the title back in 1988.
Wow! Incredible crowd for the @NYSPHSAA Boys Class A State Championship; Glens Falls vs. Wayne. 🏀 @Sect2athletics @SecVAthletics pic.twitter.com/0Spr1HHIjn
— Dr. Robert Zayas (@RobertZayasNY) March 16, 2024
Then on Saturday, the hometown crowd showed up in full force as Glens Falls would play Section 5's Wayne. The game, which was delayed by 10 minutes to allow the nearly 4,000 patrons in the arena to catch the Black Bears play for their first state championship in front of the home crowd, saw Glens Falls pull away early and held off every challenge by Wayne as Glens Falls capped the perfect season.
Glens Falls is NYSPHSAA Class A State Champions! pic.twitter.com/Fs5qRObH31
— Section 2 Athletics (@Sect2athletics) March 16, 2024
The Championship is Glens Falls's second, with the first coming in 2019 while the State Final Four and Championships were held in Binghamton. That was the final season of Joe Girard III's historic run, which culminated with a Federation Title in Glens Falls.
Sunday saw two more titles for Section 2, with Green Tech knocking off previously unbeaten Bay Shore from Long Island for the Class AAA title. The charter school out of Albany had beat Colonie in the Sectional Championships who was unbeaten going in, making Bay Shore the second undefeated team they took down during their postseason run.
The Soaring Eagles survived two technicals and two starters in foul trouble, with Haisi Mayben scored 23, Ramere Brown scoring 21 and Indavier Barnes dropping 12.
Green Tech is NYSPHSAA Class AAA State Champions! pic.twitter.com/7WwHQiKwdj
— Section 2 Athletics (@Sect2athletics) March 17, 2024
The Championship is Green Tech's 2nd, with the first coming in 2014 when Green Tech knocked off Jamestown for the title.
Finally, North Warren claimed their first state championship in program history as they survived a late charge by Sackett Harbor to win 68-66. The Cougars from Chestertown had a double digit lead, but saw Sackett Harbor claw back to within 2 with seconds left before North Warren was able to seal the victory. Wyatt Jennings set a State Tournament record with his 9 threes, scoring 29 for the Cougars. Eighth Grader Semaj Cuyler scored 17 and Derrick Tyrell adds 12.
State Champion 💛💚🏀 pic.twitter.com/2yEy6C2VSM
— Semaj Cuyler (@maj_buckets1) March 18, 2024
The four state championships for Section 2 surpasses the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons, when Section 2 grabbed three titles each year. The four also ties the mark that downstate's Section 1 gathered back in 2004, the first year that NYS went to 5 classifications (this year's the first of 6 classifications).
