GLENS FALLS — Carlos Bradberry wanted to make the game ugly. He wanted tough, physical basketball — Niagara Falls basketball.
Facing unbeaten Bay Shore, which averaged 70.8 points and only allowed 46.2 points per game, dictating the pace of the game was going to be critical. The Wolverines were able to muck up the game at times, just not often enough.
While the Wolverines had offensive spurts — cutting the lead down to nine points entering the fourth quarter — the Marauders had too many answers offensively to make the play when they had to. Christian Smiley led Bay Shore with 15 points as one of four double-figure scorers in a 56-42 win over Niagara Falls Saturday at Cool Insuring Arena.
“(Our) coaches went into this game thinking that we would have to keep them in the 40s to win,” Niagara Falls head coach Carlos Bradberry said. “We sort of would have to make this an ugly game, a defensive struggle and they just shot it really well. They started to make some shots. We tried to ugly it up as much as we could but we just couldn’t produce enough points tonight.”
Niagara Falls had opportunities to come within striking distance, even at the beginning of the contest. Tre Gayle’s 3-pointer brought the Wolverines within three points (11-8) with under two minutes left in the first quarter, before Bay Shore ballooned its lead to 19-10 at the end of the first quarter.
The inside presence of Smiley and Niall Haughney denied Niagara Falls’ playmakers in John Strong and Ephraim Strong to finish inside consistently, with the brothers held to just eight total points after averaging a combined 20.3 points coming into the game.
The Wolverines drilled back-to-back 3-pointers from Nick Estell and Gayle with under two minutes left to make it a 29-22 deficit at halftime before finishing only 3 of 17 in the game.
Still, with the outside game not working, the Wolverines adjusted at halftime, trimming a 16-point deficit to nine points going into the fourth quarter, with Omarion Ralands’ basket bringing Bay Shore’s lead to 41-32.
“We just wanted to keep attacking the basket and not settle for threes,” Bradberry said. “Our outside shot wasn’t falling so we were trying to get the guys to the basket. It’s tough to finish them… They got the 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-6 inside. But we just wanted our guys not to settle and try to stay steadfast and try to get to the basket.”
But because of what Bradberry described as a “hit-or-miss” offensive performance, Niagara Falls had to generate more stops and it did, forcing 10 of Bay Shore’s 14 total turnovers in the second half but with the game out of reach.
Once Bay Shore got into rhythm inside, it would also swing the ball on the wing, with Tashawn Bumpers and Khamari Broomfield combining for five of the team’s six made 3-pointers and 23 points in the game. Plus, big man Haughney carved up space for scoring plays, finishing with 14 points, all inside the paint.
After being able to generate turnovers all season, the Wolverines couldn’t, as Bay Shore had one final dagger with Broomfield’s 3-pointer to make a 52-36 game with under 2 minutes left in regulation.
“They had more guys sprinting back,” said Estell, who finished with a team-high 16 points. “Our guys were tired, me included. I was definitely tired. We were just tired. And they had more energy at the end of the day.”
Bay Shore (25-0) faces Section IX’s Green Tech in the Class AAA state championship at 1 p.m. Sunday at Cool Insuring Arena. Green Tech defeated Section II’s Kingston in the first semifinal, 52-45, Saturday.
Gayle finished with eight points in the loss for Niagara Falls, who finished its season with a 16-7 record.