I was rummaging through my cabinets in my bedroom yesterday after work, and, then, I found what I was looking for. Still in mint condition, save for maybe some rust stains on the back, was a button I had bought during my senior year at Troy High in support of the boys' basketball team. That year, they were eliminated by Shaker High, led by future college & NBA star Sam Perkins. That year, the Flying Horses, a .500 team in the Big 10, were a decided underdog. Not this time.
Tonight, the two schools meet again, this time in the Class AA semi-finals at Times Union Center in Albany, with the winner advancing to the title game on Monday. By the time they tip off, sometime after 8 (ET), they'll know who'll be waiting for them in the title game, be it defending champion Christian Brothers Academy or upstart Green Tech, in their 3rd varsity season, playing an independent schedule, but assigned as the 3rd seed on the Big 10 side of the bracket. Green Tech reached this point by beating the once mighty Shenendehowa, whom Shaker swept during the regular season. For CBA, this would be business as usual, which brings a yawn from this desk.
Troy finished the tournament last year without Javion Oguymeni, who was injured, but he's back and healthy this time, reminding his team that they have some unfinished business. However, it's Shaker who's looking for revenge this time, as Troy eliminated the Blue Bison in the semifinals last year before getting bamboozled by CBA in the title game. No one brings up the storied history between Troy & Shaker from more than 30 years ago, once again a case of the media ignoring a potential storyline. When the brackets came out two weeks ago, I felt that, despite bleeding Troy purple & gold, I didn't see Troy reaching the title game again. Shaker is their biggest obstacle. Having seen the Blue Bison beat Shen on TV last month, I'm convinced they may pose a bigger threat should CBA also advance.
Meanwhile, on the girls' side, it has been 24 years since the Troy women won a Section II title. On Saturday, they play the Academy of Holy Names in the Class A title game at Hudson Valley Community College. The odd thing is, Holy Names is the #1 ranked team in the state, but were not the top seed in Class A. Troy somehow landed that plum position, despite finishing second in the Big 10 to Albany, which will play for the AA title on Monday as the opening act to the Boys' AA final. Rightfully, Holy Names should be the top seed, but get treated like Rodney Dangerfield instead, and will seek to earn the respect of Section II's power brokers by beating Troy.
Just think of the possibilities, come Tuesday morning. Should both Troy teams win, and in the boys' case, it would be the equivalent to Mission: Impossible, you can bet they will have one phat party atmosphere on the Burdett Avenue campus, and both teams would likely be invited to participate in the Flag Day Parade on June 9, as the football team has done several times in the past, a fitting coda for the seniors.
Maybe this will teach Section II to leave the politics out of high school hoops once and for all, but then again.........
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