|
Article Audio:
|
LATHAM — With an offensive spurt and a lot of answers afterward, Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake earned the Section 2 Class C boys’ lacrosse championship Thursday night with a 14-10 win over South Glens Falls at Shaker High School.
South High scored the first two goals, Burnt Hills closed the first quarter with six of its own and held the lead from there against a bunch of Bulldogs who wouldn’t go away.
“They stayed composed and worked through it,” first-year Burnt Hills coach Jason LaPietro said after the program’s third straight and fifth overall Section 2 title-game victory. “I liked how my guys had their run, but didn’t get too hyped up. When things went bad, the scenario was pretty much the same.”
Six different Spartans scored in the first-quarter run, and Jackson Frame played a key role in helping them stay in front with a goal in the second quarter and three in the third that ended with his team up 11-6.
“We knew we could do it,” said Frame, a senior midfielder who had two assists to go with his four goals. “Even though we lost a lot of important players, we had the players to do it.”
Burnt Hills (No. 2 seed, 10-8) hardly blinked when South High (No. 1, 15-3) grabbed the lead on goals by Hudson DeLisle and Jack Walter.
“We’re used to a little bit of adversity,” Frame said.
“When we played earlier in the year they went up 2-zip,” LaPietro said of an 8-5 win over the Foothills Council champions. “We had to do our stuff.”
Burnt Hills’ first-quarter response began with goals by Cody Sharp, TJ Tullock and Colden Swisher, and concluded with tallies by Lucas Donahue, Santino Mareno and Shane McClernan.
“That was big,” said McClernan, a senior attacker who totaled three goals and an assist. “That got momentum swinging our way.”
Burnt Hills never let that momentum get too far away, in part because of the way it successfully cleared the ball from its defensive zone, and the way its offensive players went about riding, which hampered South High’s clearing efforts.
“They did a great job riding,” LaPietro said. “We were able to create turnovers, and that was helpful for us.”
Swisher scored three goals, and Noah Pickard, one of the new Burnt Hills starters, made eight saves. Walter and Dylan DiCaprio both collected three goals for South High, which won its last sectional flag in 2021 (Class C).
“The stick skills started to get sharp,” Frame said. “We made plays. Our defense stepped up.”
Burnt Hills rolled past South High in last year’s Class C final 17-4, and beat Ballston Spa for the Class B top spot the year before 15-9.
Burnt Hills will meet the Section 9 champ in a state sub-regional game Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at James I. O’Neill High School. Burnt Hills won its first regional title and reached the state semifinals last year under retiring coach Tom Schwan, who was on the sideline supporting the Spartans Thursday night.
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake 6 1 4 3 — 14
South Glens Falls 2 1 3 4 — 10
Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake scoring: Swisher 3-0, Frame 4-2, Donahue 1-1, Tullock 1-1, Sharp 1-1, Lussier 0-2, McClernan 3-1, Mareno 1-0. South Glens Falls scoring: Cooper 1-1, DeLisle 1-1, DiCaprio 3-0, Hilleboe 1-0, Lary 0-1, Viger 1-2, Walter 3-0. Goalies: Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake, Noah Pickard, 8 saves. South Glens Falls, Brady Dennis, 10 saves.
Categories: -Sports-, High School Sports, Scotia Glenville, Sports, Youth Sports
