BY MIKE ROSE
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. – It was a big game feel inside a near-capacity Cool Insuring Arena for the NYSPHSAA Class A championship. In the end, the majority of the fans at Glens Falls left happy as the Glens Falls Black Bears knocked off the Wayne Eagles 50-37. The loss put a close on what was a historic season for Wayne basketball.
“So proud of these kids,” Wayne head coach Bill Thomson said. “Nobody had us being here, nobody had us even winning the sectionals. Every game they just kept on getting better and better. They are so coachable, they have heart, they never give up. I’m so proud of these kids, I couldn’t ask for a better team to coach.”
Early on the effects of the crowd and the stage seemingly affected both teams. It was a defensive battle out of the gates as the teams struggled to shoot. Glen Falls broke out first and marched out to an 11-5 edge after one. The rock fight continued into the second quarter.
Ultimately, the first half ended with a steal by the Bears that set up an Oscar Lilac three-pointer to send Glen Falls into the break ahead by eight. Kellen Driscoll was the lone player seemingly in a rhythm, shooting 5-for-8 from the floor with 11 points in the first half for Glens Falls. Overall the Black Bears shot 9-for27 from the floor. Meanwhile, Wayne labored to 5-for-22 shooting in the first half.
Wayne built themselves back into the game in the third quarter as they opened on a 6-2 burst to cut the deficit to four. But as fast as they clawed back Glens Falls exploded. The Bears ended the third quarter on an 18-1 run capped off by a three-pointer at the buzzer from Brody Holcomb. Holcomb drilled another triple to open the fourth quarter, extending the run to 21-1. Holcomb and Lilac did the majority of the damage with two three-pointers a piece. Holcomb scored 10 points overall in the run.
PJ Ostrowski finishes high-low action from Cam Blankenberg. pic.twitter.com/kH4KzmkNMb
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 16, 2024
Cam Blankenberg hits a jumper, but after one quarter @waynebb2019 trails Glens Falls, 11-5. NYS Class A championship. pic.twitter.com/iECHVjtprU
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 16, 2024
“That’s what they do, that’s what they’ve done all year,” Glens Falls head coach Rob Girard said. “We told Brody and Oscar at halftime, keep shooting, that’s who you’re a shooter, the next one’s going on. And to be honest the first two minutes of the third quarter we missed a few more. They needed to see one go in, they saw one go in and then it was ‘boom, boom, boom.'”
“We didn’t take care of the ball, we turned it over a couple of times and we gave them a couple of second chance opportunities on the board,” Thomson said. “We had a possession to get it one when we were down four and it didn’t happen so that’s the game. And give them credit they came down and knocked a three to and kind of strengthed the lead a little bit.”
The lead ballooned to as many as 24 in the fourth as the Black Bears coasted across the finish line to the title. Cam Blankenberg finished with 12 points, including eclipsing 1,000 for his career. PJ Ostrowski led Wayne with 14 and 12 rebounds. Overall, Wayne shot 14-for-46 (30%) from the floor and 2-for-17 (11%) from three-point range. Driscoll finished with 15 points and six rebounds for Glens Falls. Lilac tallied 14 points while Holcomb added 12.
With the win, Glens Falls finishes 27-0 and captures its second state title in program history, the first of which came in 2019 led by former Syracuse and current Clemson guard Joe Girard.
The Eagles finish their best season in program history 23-3. The loss to Glens Falls was the lone loss to a New York State team by Wayne this season and also the largest margin of defeat. Wayne had never advanced past the regional round before this season’s run to the state final.
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