Warriors eliminate Colonial Council champ

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jim Schiltz

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Mohonasen took down a championship team Sunday, and kept its hopes alive to win one of its own.

Anthony Robustiano scored 20 points to lead four double-digit scorers, and the Mighty Warriors used an effective 2-3 zone defense to eliminate Colonial Council kingpin Lansingburgh, 69-56, in a Section II Class A quarterfinal game Sunday at Hudson Valley Community College.

Robustiano delivered 16 points to help Mohonasen (No. 5 seed, 14-7) build a 36-22 halftime lead, and the Mighty Warriors kept the Knights (No. 4, 16-5) at bay the rest of the way, with Jordan Macejka netting nine third-quarter points and Robert Tedesco collecting seven in a put-away fourth frame.

“We know what it takes to win,” said Macejka, a senior forward who finished with 12 points, five rebounds, seven assists and four steals. “Teamwork and effort. It’s the only way.”

Mohonasen ended Lansingburgh’s eight-game winning streak while snapping its own two-game slide, with late-season losses to Saratoga Springs and Colonie costing the Mighty Warriors the Suburban Council South Division title.

“The last few games, we didn’t play like a team,” said Robustiano, a senior guard who drained three three-point baskets in his first-half assault. “We talked it up, and today, we did that.”

Tedesco fired in 16 points, Anthony Battaglia had 12 points and four steals, and Garrett Sisson nailed a trio of three-point hoops as Mohonasen avenged a 69-61 December loss to the Knights, and earned a second straight trip to the semifinal round. Haneef Scott paced the Knights with 17 points, and Xavier Murray added 14.

“After that first game with them, we had a bad taste in our mouths,” said Robustiano. “We wanted to get this bad. We wanted to come out and beat them and get back to Glens Falls.”

Lansingburgh got the jump on Mohonasen, and took a 6-2 lead on a layup by Murray, before the Mighty Warriors closed the quarter with a 16-4 surge which included threes by Tedesco, Sisson and Robustiano.

Robustiano hit two more threes and a layup in a 10-2 run to begin the second period as Mohonasen’s advantage grew to 28-12. Mohonasen went on an 8-0 run later in the quarter in building a 36-22 halftime lead, and was up by double figures the rest of the way.

“Our game plan was to get a lot of people involved,” said Macejka. “We shared the ball real well.”

Mohonasen lost to Albany Academy in last year’s semifinals after beating Scotia-Glenville in the quarters. Mohonasen has a rematch with Scotia-Glenville Friday night at 8:30.