AMSTERDAM -- With a pair of impressive season-opening victories by the Amsterdam boys basketball team, varsity coach Tim Jones said the key has been balance.
After receiving a first-week bye in the league competition, the Rams opened the season on the road with a 71-58 victory over Hudson Falls. They backed that win up with a 73-58 victory over Gloversville Tuesday night in their home opener in the newly renovated gym at Amsterdam High School.
The Rams starting lineup includes juniors Aundray Fowler, Caleb Miller, Luis Tirado, Jude Flint and sophomore Rocco Natale Jr.
"The balance of this team is that it can be anybody's night," Jones said. "We have two that can come off the bench -- Jalen Green and Dom Agresta -- and we do not miss a beat when they come on. So are a strong seven and this team is very coachable and there are some things we still need to teach and work on. Our strength is that they are buying in this year and are listening."
In Tuesday's game against Gloversville, eight Rams put points in the book with Fowler leading all scorers with 21 points. Miller turned in a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds and Natale added 10 points.
"CJ [Miller] has improved, and we are asking a lot of him," Jones said. "He wants to play at the next level, so he needs to continue to challenge himself. He can shoot it from the outside, but I thought he did a nice job after he made the catch and was able to finish or set someone up tonight."
After a tight opening quarter in which Amsterdam outscored Gloversville 20-16, the second quarter turned into a defensive battle. The Rams held Gloversville scoreless for three quarters of the period before the Dragons' LaBron Hudson scored with 1:20 left and Cal Porter added a pair of free throws. Despite holding the Dragons in check, Amsterdam's offense managed 12 points.
"We struggled on defense tonight," Gloversville varsity coach Ed Collar said. "We did not communicate in our zone. It was like looking at a different team out there tonight. There was no communication. To compete against a lot of these teams we need to play defense. Our 2-3 zone is our go-to defense, and there were too many lapses in communication and too many guys left open that we were not communicating and seeing things in our areas. That was kind of the start of things in our offense. We started forcing things and were not patient in running an offense to be setting each other up."
The Dragons were able to stay close but could not cut into the Amsterdam lead as the Rams held a 41-38 advantage in the second-half scoring to lock up the 73-58 Foothills Council win.
Cal Porter paced the Dragons with 18 points, while Kingston Daley hit for 16 points and LaBron Hudson finished with 9 points.
"I felt like during the first half we did a decent job and overall, we played better than the points differential," Jones said. "We did a nice job being active and moving to the ball. We were not really able to turn it over [into points] on the other end. To be honest with the looks we were getting there in the second quarter I would have liked to have gotten it inside a little bit more."
Rebounding has also been a positive point in the Rams first two games.
Tuesday night, the Rams out rebounded the Dragons 58-35 with Miller pulling down 11 of his 14 rebounds on the defensive board.
Amsterdam also held an advantage on the boards against a taller Hudson Falls squad that features 6-foot-7 Brady Smith, 6-5 Cameron Barber and 6-5 Nicholas Beagle, as well as 6-2 guard Nathan Gonyeau.
"After the Hudson Falls game, when we outrebounded them, I knew we were going to be OK," Jones said. "They are huge. To be fair and honest, our guys just go and get the ball."
Gloversville (2-1 Foothills, 3-1 overall) is looking to return to the win column Friday as it heads to Glens Falls Friday night for a league matchup, while Amsterdam (2-0, 2-0) will travel to face Broadalbin-Perth.
"We knew this was going to be a tough week," coach Collar said. "Credit Amsterdam. They came out fired up and got the job done. They are a very good team and will give other teams trouble. We are going to have trouble winning games when we give up 20 points in a quarter. It is tough starting off a game like that. We have two days to try to get ourselves back together and try to beat a very good Glens Falls team."
Jones said that continuing the Rams early-season success will be a challenge Friday night when they play the Patriots on their home court in the Robert C. Munn Gymnasium at Broadalbin-Perth High School.
"You just don't know when you go there," he said. "They will get that defense dialed up and if they make a couple of shots and get that momentum, they are tough, especially in that gym."
Both Gloversville and Amsterdam will participate in the tournament Sunday at Broadview Center at UAlbany. Gloversville is set to tip-off against Cohoes at 10:30 a.m., while Amsterdam will take on Catholic Central at 7:30 p.m.
Gloversville 16 4 20 18 -- 58
Amsterdam 20 12 23 18 -- 73
Gloversville scoring: Hudson 4-0-9, Daley 6-3-16, Halloran 0-1-1, Porter 5-8-18, Collar 2-2-6, Conyne 3-0-7. Amsterdam scoring: Green 2-0-4, Fowler 9-1-21, Natalie 3-1-10, Tirado 3-1-0, Rivera 1-0-2, Flint 4-1-9, Agresta 2-1-5, Miller 6-2-14. Team totals: Gloversville 20-15-58. Amsterdam 30-8-73.