This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Sayre Powers Albertus Back to Championship Game (VIDEO)

Senior forward Tyler Sayre scored 33 points as Albertus Magnus defeated Croton-Harmon, 72-44, Wednesday in the Class B semifinals.

Through three quarters of Wednesday’s boys basketball Class B semifinal game, Croton-Harmon had scored 30 points.

Albertus Magnus senor forward Tyler Sayre had 31.

Now, Sayre wasn’t playing alone, so the Albertus senior’s 31 points at that point were part of the Falcons 31-point lead heading into the final quarter.

Sayre scored added two more in the fourth as Albertus won, 72-44, at the Westchester County Center to advance to Saturday’s championship game.

“The defense is trying to focus on you, but if you’re making shots and you’re still playing well, there’s really not too much to do,” Sayre said. “It’s a good feeling.”

Sayre’s 33 is two short of his career high and he had a chance to pass it by getting to the free throw line three times in the fourth, but he missed on all three attempts. Albertus Coach Pat McFadden said it’s rare that Sayre missed free throws, especially on a night when his shot was falling from all over the court.

“I like his matchup against anybody,” McFadden said. “He’s a skilled player. He can step out and make a shot, he can go inside. He’s just a great weapon for us to have.”

Point guard Pat McGuinness said that when Sayre is on like he was Wednesday, it makes his own job “really easy.” Albertus senior Arnell Dandridge said he’s been playing with Sayre for about nine years and it was one of the best games he’s seen Sayre have.

“It was a dominant performance by [Sayre],” said McFadden. “Obviously he had a bunch of points, but he rebounded for us and he’s been our go-to guy all year.”

Sayre started Albertus off right off the tip-off, when he knocked the ball to Jack Sullivan, who raced down the court for an easy lay-up to give Albertus a 2-0 lead it never relinquished.

By the end of the first, Albertus led by 11, and it was in that first half Sayre knew the Falcons offense would be just too much for the Tigers.

“When they started playing man-to-man in the first half, we knew that they couldn’t guard any of us really,” he said. “We were too athletic for them. Being able to make shots early definitely helped.”

While the Falcons led by 16 at the half, they made sure Croton-Harmon didn’t come out and try to slowly pick away at the deficit in the second half. Sayre hit two shots to start off the third to bring the Albertus lead up to 20 for the first time all game.

But the third really belonged to Dandridge, at least around the middle of the quarter, when the senior scored nine straight for the Falcons after going scoreless in the first half.

“I wasn’t too confident [offensively] in the first half, I was just working on defense,” he said. “Then when it came to offense in the third quarter, I started to step it up and take my shots.”

In addition to Sayre’s 33, Sullivan netted 16 for Albertus, followed by Dandridge’s nine and seven from McGuinness. Wes Turner led Croton-Harmon with 12 points, followed by Ian Thom’s 11.

For the Falcons, they’ll get a chance to repeat as Class B champs Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Westchester County Center. To win it again, they’ll need to beat No. 1 seed Dobbs Ferry, who beat Blind Brook 64-38 in Wednesday’s other semifinal. The two teams played last year in the championship game, with .

Download the movie

Find out what's happening in Pearl Riverwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?