GLENS FALLS, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Green Tech knew it was going to get a battle from Section IX’s Kingston in Saturday’s Class AAA state semifinal round. The Soaring Eagles knew that because they had just defeated the Tigers handily (83-66) on the road in early February, and would be facing a team hungry for revenge.
Green Tech took Kingston’s best shot, but the Soaring Eagles are still standing. Better yet, they’re still flying, and are headed right for the state championship game after defeating the Tigers 52-45.
“February 8 was over a month ago,” said Green Tech head coach DJ Jones. “The stakes are higher when you’re in the final four. If you thought Kingston was gonna come out and give it up easy, you don’t know sports. They came out and gave it [to us]. We withstood their storm, managed it and now we’re back in the state championship.”
This will be the second state title appearance for the Soaring Eagles in three seasons. They fell just short in the 2022 Class AA final to Mount Vernon.
“It feels good to be back,” said Jones. “It’ll feel even better if we get the job done [Sunday]. We gotta come back and play a lot better.”
Neither team led by more than two possessions at any point in the first three quarters. Green Tech maintained a 35-34 advantage heading into the final stanza, where junior guard Haisi Mayben guided his team to the finish line.
After the Soaring Eagles extending their lead slightly to 40-38, Mayben contributed to six of the team’s next nine points with a lay-up and two assists to junior forward U’Mier Graham. One of the assists was an alley-oop to Graham that resulted in a rim-rattling jam, extending the margin to nine points with just 2:41 remaining – Green Tech’s largest lead of the game.
Green Tech withstood one final surge from Kingston, securing the 52-45 victory after a fourth quarter that saw the Soaring Eagles outscore the Tigers 17-12.
“Whoever’s a senior, or whoever’s leaving next year, this could’ve been the last eight minutes of our high school season,” said Mayben regarding the message Jones gave to his team ahead of that decisive fourth quarter. “We all just took that into consideration, and locked in together.”
Mayben posted game-highs in the points, rebounds and assists columns with 20, nine and six, building on an 18-point outing he had in the first meeting with Kingston.
“I knew it was gonna be a tough [game], ’cause when we played them the first time, they really didn’t play their hardest,” said Mayben. “They just played their hardest – they’re a great team – but I knew if me and my teammates worked hard, we would end up with the “W.”
Sophomore guard Indavier Barnes and Graham joined Mayben in double figures in scoring with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Green Tech (19-6) faces a daunting challenge in Sunday’s state championship game: 25-0 Bay Shore out of Section XI – the No. 2-ranked team in the state for Class AAA.
That game is set to get underway at 1:00 p.m. at Cool Insuring Arena.
