Patriots get a much-needed victory

PHOTOGRAPHER: Jim Schiltz

With a five-game losing streak in tow and sectionals right around the corner, Schenectady was looking for a few positives in its final home game of the season Tuesday night.

The Patriots got a whole bunch more than that.

Shateek Garlic recorded a double-double and combined with fellow seniors Jallah Tarver and Abel Marrero for 52 points in a 72-64 Big 10 win over Amsterdam at the Pat Riley Sports Center.

Marrero scored all 11 of his points to help Schenectady open up an early double-digit lead, and when Tarver sank a pair of foul shots inside the final three minutes, the Pats held a 69-47 advantage.

“We hit some open jump shots. We got to the rim. We got into the open court. He had some nice assists,” said Schenectady coach Eric Loudis. “We had good things happen that we can talk about in practice.”

Garlic scored 14 of his career-high 22 points in the second half and snared 10 rebounds, and Tarver collected 19 points, six rebounds and six assists. Marrero topped the Patriots (5-11, 6-12) with five steals, and Darius Macon came off the bench to record six of his team’s nine blocked shots on a night when the seniors were honored.

“We had a [three-game] winning streak going, and then we fell back off. We were just trying to get a win,” said Garlic, a 6-foot-3 transfer from Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons who missed all of his junior season with a knee injury. “Everybody played good tonight. Everybody did a lot of good things. It was a good win to boost our confidence.”

“We lost our last game by a lot,” said Marrero, referring to Friday’s 80-49 setback against LaSalle. “We needed something to get us going forward.”

Schenectady will be the No. 6 seed out of the Big 10 for the Class AA sectionals. Tournament pairings will be released today.

“We’re looking at Guilderland, Shaker, Columbia, Bethlehem or Shenendehowa. I’m OK with any of those Suburban Council teams,” said Loudis. “We can compete with any of those teams. I know deep down inside, the boys want to play Shenendehowa because they’ve been our nemesis, but I don’t care.

“Hopefully, they build off this and take it into the sectionals.”

Schenectady built a lead early against the Running Rams (1-15, 3-15), answering Luis LaBoy’s game-starting three-pointer with 11 points, six by Marrero.

Garlic’s buzzer-beating tip-in at the end of the first quarter and a Marrero three-pointer and layup off a steal made it 20-9 early in the second and kick-started a 9-3 run.

“We never put them in a spot where they were uncomfortable,” said Amsterdam coach Joe Agresta following his team’s sixth straight loss. “We’d get ourselves in a position to make a move, and we’d make mistakes.”

Amsterdam clawed within seven early in the third quarter, 42-35, on a putback basket by LaBoy. Garlic had seven points and Tarver had five in a 16-5 spurt to close the period.

“They cut it to seven. We were playing lazy,” said Tarver. “Coach yelled at us. That’s all he had to do, and we turned it up.”

Schenectady led by 18 after three and a Garlic layup pushed it to 65-42 in the fourth, capping a 7-0 surge.

“It would have hurt us if we lost this one,” said Loudis.

“Tonight was about pride. Pride, pride, pride,” Tarver said after the Pats’ second win over Amsterdam this season and first victory since a 62-55 decision at Albany on

Jan. 27. “We couldn’t go into sectionals with a loss, and we didn’t want our last memory here being a loss.”

Rob Sherlock had 14 points and six rebounds for an Amsterdam team that’s headed to the Class A sectionals.

“I don’t see people saying, ‘I can’t wait to play Amsterdam.’ Playing the Big 10 teams should help us. With our size and quickness, we can definitely be more competitive, if not win a couple of game,” said Agresta. “We’re not looking at a one-and-done in the sectionals.”

AMSTERDAM

Centi 2-0-4, Dufel 2-4-8, Hardies 1-0-2, Julia 5-0-12, LaBoy 4-0-10, Rodriguez 2-1-5, Sherlock 7-0-14, Singh 2-0-5, Sobkowich 0-4-4. Totals: 25-9-64.

SCHENECTADY

Garlic 8-6-22, Hundley 1-3-5, Macon 2-0-4, Marrero 5-0-11, Quinn 0-1-1, Rodriguez 1-0-2, Shafer 1-0-2, Symes 3-0-6, Tarver 6-4-19. Totals: 27-14-72.

Amsterdam 9 19 12 24 — 64

Schenectady 15 23 20 14 — 72

Three-point goals: Julia 2, LaBoy 2, Singh, Marrero, Tarver 3.