Setting the Scene: The powers that be decided to start the season with some heat when they put Catholic High & Academy together at the jump. 8 weeks later, it was time to run it back. Both teams have made their share of noise since that season opener, a 68-64 overtime thriller in Mechanicville that went the Crusaders’ way. A loss in Syracuse to Bishop Ludden is CCHS’ only blemish on the record, and although I’m sure that’s one they want back, they atoned for it by going back out to Cuse and taking eye-catching Ws over Cicero-North Syracuse & Bishop Kearney in mid-January. Academy also took a double-digit win over C-NS this season along with a lopsided decision over Ludden, and their only loss since the opener was a last-second heartbreaker to Mid-Hudson power Our Lady of Lourdes. Class A vs. Class B, but two of Section II’s finest and for my money, perhaps the most entertaining guaranteed (league) matchup going in Section II. When it’s on, I don’t look at the rest of the schedule.

Catholic Central 57, Albany Academy 49

75 Words or Less: Packed house all the way to the track above the court, and CCHS put together an early clinic on how to take the home crowd out of it through a rugged defensive effort. A 14-2 1st half run gave them all the momentum, and although Academy never went away – they made it a one-possession game five times after falling behind by 12 – key plays came from across the Crusader starting unit to finish the job.

THE FULL STORY

Basketball is a funny sport. There’s always “a lot of time left” even when the clock is dwindling, but that’s because short spurts can make such a large difference in a game. The first 6 minutes teetered back & forth, but the final 2 of the opening frame along with the first 2 of the next went a long way in setting the stage for the rest of the night.

Eva Gitto (AAG 2025) opened the scoring for Academy just before the 6 minute mark, but they only maintained the lead for 90 seconds before Kris Foglia (CCHS 2025) scored to take it for the Crusaders at 5-4. Academy tied it at 5 & 7 before Catholic High made their most notable run of the night. It started with a Navi Turpin (CCHS 2025) free throw at the 2:16 mark after Academy picked up their 5th team foul. Dior Dobere (CCHS 2027) got on the board next after sending a backtap toward a teammate & then receiving an advance pass in return for a breakaway layup. It was 11-9 in the closing seconds of the frame before Dobere pulled up & drilled a left wing three and Turpin motored her way to the rim for a buzzer-beating finish to turn the Crusader crowd up and give them a 16-9 lead.

The run continued into the 2nd as Foglia buried a three on the Crusaders’ opening possession and Turpin added another bucket to run the margin to 12. Gitto & Dobere traded makes 15 seconds apart to keep it there at 23-11 before Academy answered with a run of their own, and Gitto had her hands in a lot of it. After showing off craftiness going toward the rim on the previous bucket, she rose up & canned a right wing three to start it off. Kira Ostovar (AAG 2025) and Alex Leonard (AAG 2026) added a bucket & 2 free throws, then it was Gitto again, this time with a pull-up 12 footer followed by a breakaway layup off her own deflection at the top of the Bears’ 3-2 to cut it to 1 and force a Crusader timeout in the final minute of the half. Catholic High stopped the bleeding of the hosts’ 11-0 run with an Amia Rodriguez (CCHS 2026) paint finish out of the timeout, and they went into the locker room with a narrow 25-22 lead.

Academy inched back within 1 twice early in the 3rd on baskets from Leonard and Morgan Vien (AAG 2026), but Catholic Central had the responses to make sure they couldn’t get over the hump. It was Dobere on both of these instances, the second time around with a spot-up corner three to bring it back to two possessions. The Crusaders moved back ahead by 7 with a pair of Akarri Gaddy (CCHS 2026) free throws before Academy trimmed it back to 2 with a Liana Williams (AAG 2026) baseline out-of-bounds curl & finish followed by a banked three. True to form, Catholic High delivered. Dobere canned another three from the right side, Gaddy knifed through two defenders in the post & finished, and Turpin went 3/4 from the line in the last minute to push the Crusader lead back to 8 at 44-36 after three.

One more mini-push was in the works, but the story remained the same as the visitors put an end to it before things really got dangerous for them. Another Gaddy bucket pushed the lead to 9, but Academy got it back to one possession once more by the middle of the 4th. Leonard hit a pair at the line, Bella Vincent (AAG 2024) finished in transition, and Emily Thornton (AAG 2025) rattled home a corner jumper to bring them within 3 at 46-43 with under four to go. It’d get no closer than that though, as Catholic Central strung together a series of stops while converting opportunities at the line to regain a late cushion to work with. Turpin went 3/4 over a two minute stretch once again and Foglia hit a pair to push the margin forward to 8 again, and even with back-to-back buckets by Leonard & Ostovar to keep Academy afloat, they wouldn’t get closer than 6 the rest of the way as Academy got enough stops & closed it out at the line to secure a big-time Colonial win.

Dior Dobere dropped 20, 8 coming in the 3rd quarter, to lead all scorers for Catholic Central. Navi Turpin made her presence felt at the jump and ran alongside her with 15. Akarri Gaddy picked it up in the 2nd half as an interior force and finished with 10, and Kris Foglia hit a couple big shots in the process of her 10 for the Crusaders. Eva Gitto & Alex Leonard paced Academy with 13 – 9 of Gitto’s came in a 2nd quarter flurry that brought the Bears back after an early double-digit deficit, and Leonard got the majority of hers going toward the rim in the 2nd half.

Next Up: Catholic Central still has a handful to knock out over the next couple weeks, starting off with another private school Colonial clash on Friday when they welcome Holy Names. Look at next Wednesday’s nonleague home game against Broadalbin-Perth to potentially be a Class A final preview. Next two are probably the best for Academy, at least for now as I think they’re still actively looking to fill a 20th game – Schalmont pulls up on Friday night, then the Bears make a short drive down New Scotland to Holy Names next Tuesday.

#ThoughtsFromTheBaseline

• This is a game I probably shouldn’t have gone to, last couple days have been spent sick, but I couldn’t miss it. So if you saw me, it was 2020 chic with the mask on for the first time in years & I avoided contact with pretty much everyone (not because I don’t like you, just because whatever I have going on, I don’t want you to also get it too). Save the sick day for another time. The energy & atmosphere alone was worth it, and of course the talent was there too.
• When they first met in early December, Dior Dobere was out – in fact, it was right around surgery time for a knee injury. She was out for approximately another month after that & has since been back for a few weeks, and if she isn’t at 100% full strength by now, she’s just about there. Did she make a difference offensively? Absolutely. Game high 20 points, hit some big shots when needed, got paint touches, created tempo, and provided balance offensively to mix with CCHS’ powerful frontcourt. But… where I felt she made perhaps even more of a difference was on the defensive end. Her relentless ball pressure, both to create turnovers & to contain the dribble, kept Academy out of a half-court offensive rhythm pretty much the whole way, and it allowed Ella DiBacco to slide away from lead guard defensive duties, which allowed her to stay effective on the defensive end for 32 minutes as well without getting into foul trouble. One of NY’s better guards in the 2027 class… safe to say the Crusaders are happy to have her back.
• The heat Catholic High puts on with basic man-to-man pressure is pretty much guaranteed to speed teams up physically & mentally, and when they’re locked in off the ball bumping cutters & in position, it’s a rugged team to have to deal with every possession. I thought it made Academy a ‘pound the rock’ team for the most part, which is not what they want to be & not where they have success with. The bright side is they have the skilled players to put on the floor to survive in that environment so they hung around, but it had the kind of effect CCHS needed.
• A shorter side note to the above thought. The other bright side for Academy – what Class B team in New York has the athletes to get into them like that? Not any that I’ve seen. CCHS x 2, Lourdes, C-NS, Columbia even though they kinda laid an egg when AAG came to town… these are the games that Academy really can learn about themselves & grow from.
• Bottle up 2nd quarter Eva Gitto, send it on the road & spread it out over this spring/summer, and she’s coming back home with scholarship money on the table. I don’t like to say “danger time” early on since again, a little bit of time can really be a lot of time in basketball, but 21-9 early 2nd quarter… felt like Academy needed to stem the tide right then. Eva rose to the occasion & dipped into the entire arsenal along the way. Turned the corner 1v1, showed craftiness at the rim with the pass fake going into a lefty finish. Squared up off a catch at the right wing, paused & rose up over the hand with a pure looking three (both of them off DHOs). Caught it at the left corner, attacked a long closeout, got into the 10′-12′ short corner area & rose up with a pull-up. Tipped a pass at the top of a 3-2 zone, got it in transition, broke away & finished. Showed ranginess on the defensive end by recovering to block a shot at the rim. 5’9″, long & wiry, fluid athlete, skilled scorer, looks the part – with weight room development down the line & more comfort with the dribble, there’s potential for even further progression as this 2025 approaches college years.
• And once again… the atmosphere. “Pre-sale ticket” energy. Small gym without much seating so it’s not like the numbers were crazy, but that also enhanced the feel since you had people literally on top of (above) you. Not getting this sort of vibe many places in my coverage region.