Albany Academy girls and boys basketball complete doubleheader sweep at Siena

LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- It was a banner day for The Albany Academies on the hardwood Sunday, as both the girls and boys basketball teams were victorious in a doubleheader out at Siena College's UHY Center.

The girls started the afternoon with a 71-45 victory over Colonial Council rival Academy of the Holy Names, and the boys followed that up by defeating Class AAA's Christian Brothers Academy, 67-39.

Both squads have put together sterling seasons thus far. The girls are ranked second in the state for Class A, and improved to 7-2. The boys strung together their 11th straight win to start the season, and own the No. 1 ranking in the state for Class AA.

The final score of the girls' game was not indicative of just how close a battle it was. Holy Names entered the day unbeaten at 8-0, ranked 15th in Class A and actually maintained a three-point lead, 30-27, with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter.

But in that final minute, Albany Academy recorded back-to-back buckets, as Liana Williams scored a lay-up, rebounded a Panthers miss and then assisted Emily Thornton, whose fast-break bucket claimed the Bears a 31-30 advantage at halftime.

Out of the locker room, Albany Academy's Alex Leonard erupted for 15 consecutive points to start the third quarter. In the span of just four minutes, a one-point halftime margin had ballooned to 16. The Bears outscored Holy Names 23-4 for the quarter, and maintained a comfortable, 54-34 lead going into the final stanza.

"We talked in the locker room about [how] that was not how we play as a team," said Leonard. "We kinda regrouped. Coach [Capitula] told us what we need to do; we came out, and we did that."

Leonard's offensive outburst - while maybe not surprising to those who are familiar with her elite scoring capabilities - was remarkable given the fact she struggled with her shot to start the game, and only mustered two first-half points.

The junior guard/forward reverted to a simple offensive approach in the second half. During her run of 15 unanswered points, 10 of those came on lay-ups.

"[I] try to get to the rim a lot when my shot's not falling," said Leonard. "My teammates really helped me get out in transition; leak out, so I could make those lay-ups."

Leonard finished with a game-high 19 points. Head coach Brian Capitula recalled what his message was to his star player at halftime that helped her find her rhythm.

""Just know that you can really get to the rim any time you want,"" said Capitula. ""You're one of the best players in this area for a reason." She has that in her. She can put up 15, 18 points in the blink of an eye."

Capitula was also pleased to see his team will out a victory against one of the top teams in the class just days after suffering a hard-fought defeat at Class AAA's Shaker.

"Really emotional Friday night game," said Capitula. "So, for our group to do this with 48 hours, or so; get re-focused for a new team...obviously, Holy Names is a big rival of ours, so these girls got up for this game. This is just kinda the start of the second half of our season, and we hope to keep progressing as we go."

Joining Leonard in double figures in scoring was Thornton, who tallied 14 points, and Williams, who recorded 13.

Maggie Volmer netted a game-high 20 for Holy Names.

Albany Academy (7-2) returns home Tuesday to take on Mohonasen at 6:30 p.m. Holy Names (8-1) hits the road Tuesday and will square off with Ichabod Crane at 6:30.

The boys' game pitted two of Section II's top talents against one another: Albany Academy's Ras Elijah Godbolt versus CBA's JJ Osinksi.

Godbolt had the upper hand in the opening quarter, registering eight points to guide the Cadets to a 16-8 lead through eight minutes of action.

Osinksi came alive in the second quarter, where he poured in seven of his team-best 15 points. He connected on a three-pointer at the 5:11 mark to draw the Brothers within four points at 21-17.

But Albany Academy closed the quarter on a 16-4 run, and maintained a sizeable, 37-21 advantage at intermission.

That lead only grew in the second half, as the Cadets outscored the Brothers 19-12 in the third quarter and 11-6 in the fourth.

Godbolt racked up 20 points in the game. Jack Louridas followed closely behind on the scorer's sheet with 14, and Jamar Macon added 11.

Osinski and Jacob Bowden (10 points) were the only two Brothers to reach double figures in scoring.

Albany Academy (11-0) is set to embark on a road trip that consists of four games, and begins with Iona Prep Saturday at 3:00 p.m. CBA (3-3) will look to regroup Tuesday at Guilderland. Opening tip for that contest is slated for 7:00.