By Cody Marshall-The Sultan of Sports

GLENS FALLS–Any high school basketball player who plays in Section II dreams of one day playing at the Glens Falls Civic Center. Only a small fraction of those players actually make it there. On Monday night, I made the trip to Glens Falls to watch my former school, Stillwater High School, take on the #1 seeded Watervliet Cannoneers, who entered the game at 19-1 and ranked 2nd in the state in Class B. The Warriors of Stillwater entered with a record of 16-4 and seeded 4th in Section II Class B.

To get to this point, Watervliet defeated #16 Ichabod Crane 67-38 and then thrashed #9 Chatham 76-34. Meanwhile, the Warriors defeated #13 Saratoga Catholic 52-29 and #5 Catskill 72-54. Both teams were hoping to clinch their spot in the finals, so the beginning of the game was sure to be interesting.

Early on, Stillwater had early momentum behind the dribble-drive penetration of senior guard Brett Smith. The Warriors led early 7-4. However, Watervliet solved their problems and began showing everyone why they are #2 in the state. The Cannoneers went on a 30-2 run throughout the remainder of the first and part of the second quarter. Led by Antoine Johnson, the Cannoneers erupted to take a 29-9 lead after the first quarter. From there, they added 10 more points in the second quarter to take a 39-13 lead into the locker room at the half. After a 10 minute intermission, the Cannoneers went back to work breaking down the Stillwater defense and drawing fouls to get to the foul line. Stillwater did everything they could to try to climb back into the game, but the Cannoneers were having none of it. In the second half, the Cannoneers outscored the Warriors 36-27 en route to a 75-40 win.

The Cannoneers will now take on the #6 Cohoes Tigers, who scored a 71-57 upset of #2 Mekeel Christian Academy. The Warriors finish the season 16-5 and return seven juniors from this year’s varsity team, as well as a group of sophomores who were brought up for Sectionals. The Warriors lose six seniors to graduation, so next year is looking up as far as experience goes for Stillwater.

For the last decade, Stillwater has had a great deal of pride instilled in its basketball program. Coach Dave Cook, a Galway graduate, has the knowledge worthy of producing exceptional teams year in and year out. In 2006, the Warriors won the Class CC-C Championship over Cambridge and managed to advance to the state semifinals before being defeated by Campbell-Savona. The Warriors made another run at a Sectional title in 2009. The Warriors entered the tournament as a 10 seed and ran the table, knocking off #7 Schoharie, #2 Schenectady Christian, and #3 Hoosick Falls before falling to #1 Maple Hill by just 3 points in the finals.

Besides the coaching staff and players, there’s more that makes Stillwater’s basketball atmosphere one of the greatest in the area. First, the long streak of winning seasons has students interested in going to games. In fact, the student section at Stillwater created a group name and had over 50 students in the student section at the contest. “Cook’s Kitchen” as the group is known constantly chants throughout the game, which at times can resemble the Cameron Crazies at Duke University. Throughout the year, students wore white t-shirts to make the group really stand out. Thoughout the group there were flags, a Warrior mascot, and many signs. The feeling of being a part of this group during my senior year was incredible, mainly because I was with my old friends and cheering on what could’ve been my teammates as well. I hope to see Stillwater in the Sectionals next year, and maybe this article will spark some more spirit in the stands for Galway basketball.