High School Fridays: Shaker @ Troy (boys' basketball), 12/8/17

It may have been the home opener for Troy High tonight, but it felt like old home week between the Flying Horses and Shaker, considering that some of the players on both teams had just seen each other on the football field just 2 months ago.

Troy's Joe Casale, Hunter Redden, & Avery Curley are coming off the school's 2nd straight state title in football. Jack Bush, Raveon Burt, Connor McHugh, & Devin Mahoney were on the Shaker football team that dropped a 40-15 decision to Troy on October 6 in Latham. In effect, the Blue Bison were looking for a little measure of revenge on two fronts, since Troy has owned them on the court as well as the gridiron in recent years.

A couple of minutes into the first quarter, Mahoney put Shaker on top, but it wasn't long before Latyce Faison answered back for Troy, and so it went. Back & forth, all night long. Mahoney finished with 15 points. Sloan Seymour had 17, and Burt finished with 12 to lead Shaker.

On Tuesday, in a narrow loss to Shenendehowa, Troy senior Alonzo Alexander had a breakout game with 19 points. Tonight, it was Faison and Nazaire Merritt who led the Flying Horses. Merritt, a junior, led all scorers with 21 points. Faison added 19.  Casale had 7 for the 2nd straight game, and Alexander had 11.

As was the case on Tuesday, it came down to the final play. 3 seconds left. Troy up by 3. Shaker is playing for a potential game-tying shot that could send it to overtime. Burt heaved up a 3 point shot that rimmed out, and time ran out for the Blue Bison, as Troy escapes with a 63-60 win to square each team's record at 1-1.

Troy also won the junior varsity game, 58-53. That game ran a little long with an epidemic of late fouls and time outs, delaying the start of the varsity game, advertised for 7 pm, to 7:30. There was a decent crowd for a Friday night, and Troy boosters went home happy after the final buzzer sounded just before 9 pm. Up next for Troy will be old foe CBA on Tuesday at home, then at Mohonasen next Friday before a quick return to Troy for a non-league game vs. Kingston, the first half of a home-&-home series, as Troy travels to Kingston next month.