Tyler Wood of Broadalbin-Perth turned in the single-game high for this year’s Section II boys’ basketball tournament when he scored 39 points in a Class B quarterfinal loss to Watervliet.
Wood had produced 37 points five days before in a first-round win over Schalmont, and with his efforts, the 5-foot-11 junior guard equaled the most productive back-to-back scoring display ever by a Patriot.
Broadalbin-Perth’s Mike Beers scored 39 points in a loss to White Plains and had 37 in a follow-up win over Queensbury during the 2001-02 season.
“We knew he had the potential to score big, but 37 and then 39? That’s a lot of points,” said Broadalbin-Perth coach Tucker Gifford. “Nobody saw that coming.”
Wood’s season highs before the sectionals were 23 points in a loss to Gloversville and 22 in a victory over Cohoes. The second-team Foothills Council all-star entered the sectionals with an average of just over 13 points per game.
“The scouting report on Tyler coming into the season was that he was a three-point shooter,” said Gifford. “We worked all season on making him a complete player. We worked on his medium-range jumper and going to the hole. He showed flashes during the season, and in our last couple of games, he really put it together. It was a four-month process.”
Wood’s 37 came in a 63-57 homecourt win over Schalmont, and his 39 came at Hudson Valley Community College in an 89-72 defeat when Watervliet ended the Patriots’ hopes of a repeat Class B championship.
“He was possessed,” said Gifford. “I think he said it best when he said, ‘I was in a zone.’ ”
Wood finished with a flurry, piling up 22 of Broadalbin-Perth’s 29 fourth-quarter points against Watervliet. He knocked down four of his five three-point baskets during that eight-minute stretch.
“The next step for him is to be able to guard the other team’s best player, and still score consistently for us. It’s going to be harder,” Gifford said. “The secret is out. When a guy scores that many points, people don’t forget. Next season, he’s going to have to play with people all over him.”
Johnstown senior Ian Yost had a 36-point performance in a 51-37 Class B first-round win over Hudson.
Sausville honored
The Schenectady Basketball Club honored high school coach Mark Sausville for leading Patriots’ varsity teams to 200 wins following a 57-49 Section II Class AA quarterfinal triumph over Guilderland.
Sausville’s varsity teams are 198-75 going back to the 1998-99 season, which includes a 70-46 Section II quarterfinal loss to Shenendehowa. Schenectady finished 11-9 this season.
During Schenectady’s state-championship run in 1997-98, Sausville, then an assistant, filled in for head coach Gary DiNola twice, and guided the Patriots in wins against Catholic Central and Albany. DiNola was out of the area attending to his father, who was ill.
Sausville oversaw Schenectady’s second state-championship run during the 2000-01 season, with that title-winning team, like the school’s first, putting together a 28-1 record. Five of Sausville’s teams have won 20 games or more, and five of them have captured Big 10 championships.
Loudis coming back
Veteran boys’ basketball coach Joe Loudis said he’ll be returning to lead the Mechanicville team after sitting out this season due to health issues.
Loudis will be coaching in his sixth decade come next season, after starting his hall of fame career in 1967 at Cohoes.
Upon his return, Loudis will be the Section II boys’ active wins leader with 428. His coaching resumé includes a Section II championship with Cohoes in 1973 and three with Mechanicville, in 1995, 1996 and 2008.
Rian Richardson, who excelled on the 1995 and 1996 title teams, guided Mechanicville to six wins this season. One of those wins came against Tamarac in a Section II Class B play-in game.
Categories: High School Sports
