Keys To The Game: #4 Ichabod Crane vs #5 Hudson
Ichabod Crane: Ichabod is heading into this game off a first round win versus Schuylerville, where they didn’t impress me so much. They made some bad passes, shooting wasn’t that good, and they played sloppy overall. If Ichabod wants to defeat the reigning champs they need to play tremendously, they need to play just as good if not better than they did against Hudson on December 9th at Ichabod. On the offensive side of the ball they need to make their shots. When they make their shots they play well. A good example of that is against La Salle on February 10th, they shot the ball exceptionally well and came out with a win. On defense they need to get a hand in Tyler Dellavechia’s face, stop Mike Alert when he drives to the hoop, and limit Hudson's points in the transition. Limiting Hudson's transition game means two things: 1) No sloppy passes, no turnovers, especially pointless turnovers. 2) This will be difficult because the court will be a lot wider and bigger than it is at Ichabod, so there will be more room for the Bluehawks to run.
Hudson: Hudson won its first round game against Bishop Gibbons. If Hudson wants to make another title run it starts with this game. Bishop Gibbons wasn’t that big of a challenge for the Bluehawks, but this game is. If they want to stop the Riders offense they need to get out on Pete Volkmann, if he gets hot early it could be a long night for the Bluehawks. They also need to stop Joey Werner down low. If Volkmann is off Werner will step up. He could do some damage down low in the paint. Hudson also needs to limit their fouls. Ichabod is a very good free throw shooting team and if this game comes down to the charity stripe it could be bad for Hudson. On the offensive side, Dellavechia, and Alert need to shoot well, and if Ichabod gets out on them, then they just dish it down low to the big man Kimedrick Murphy.
Tonight’s game will be played at Hudson Valley Community College, Tip is at 6:30 pm. I will be livestreaming on www.upstatesportszone.com, I will post the link to the livestream on my Facebook, and Twitter (@CAmesUpstate), I will also be tweeting game updates on Twitter.
