Girmindl's Ghost

Today (3/8) in 1980: Shaker did not play. However, the other sectional semifinal took place. The morning Times Union ran the following headline:

Everyone was looking forward to a Shaker-Mont Pleasant showdown for the title. Dave Bleau, coach of MP, however, wasn't as optimistic. He had this to say:

Someone told me the other day that the only interest left seems to be whether or not we can stay with Shaker. I told him that the real pressure game is [tonight against CBA], not next Tuesday.

Mont Pleasant had already beaten CBA twice during the season, and had not lost since mid-December. But it was not to be. The Brothers played nearly a perfect game, and the headlines in the paper tomorrow told the story:

Here's an excerpt from the article:

CBA of Albany, loser both times it played Big 10 champ Mont Pleasant during the regular season, upset the Red Radiers 65-55 Saturday night at the Glens Fall Civic center and earned a berth in Tuesday's Class A finals against undefeated Shaker.

"I'm giving these guys off Sunday and I'm going to enjoy this one myself," CBA Coach Bill Telasky said. "I won't start thinking about Shaker until Monday."

Maybe Telasky won't be able to come up with a master plan to stop Sam Perkins and Company Tuesday, but he certainly pushed all the right buttons to beat Mont Pleasant. The key to the game was the box and one CBA played against Pleasant point guard Mark Sausville. The Red Raider floor leader was held to 10 points (only two field goals) and was into many turnovers.

Brendan Mitchell, Pleasant's 6-6 junior star, scrored 25 points but was not the dominant factor he had been against other Big 10 and Section II teams, including CBA. One of the reasons Mitchell failed to dominate was because CBA kept Sausville from getting the ball to him down low.

"Their boxing Sausville was a definite surprise," said Pleasant Coach Dave Bleau, who saw a 19-4 season end on a sour note and one game short what had been the anticipated Class A showdown agaisnt Shaker and a duel between Perkins and Mitchell.

So there you have it. It's Shaker (23-0) vs. CBA (17-6) on 3/11/1980 for the sectional title. We'll preview the game in the coming days.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 08, 2006 at 9:59 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.