Sports - Snyder will learn a lot about his Blue Streaks

The head of the Saratoga Springs High School varsity boys’ basketball team will learn a lot about a young Blue Streaks squad this weekend as the season begins with the annual Saratoga Tip-Off tournament.

Following a 7 p.m. contest between Glens Falls and Washingtonville, host Saratoga faces Vestal Friday night (Nov. 30). The winners of those two games hook up Saturday at 4:30 p.m.

“It’s a big question mark in regards to how good we’ll be. We’ve been having really good practices and I like the energy level the kids have had,” Snyder said.

The Blue Streaks graduated four senior starters from last year with the lone returner being junior phenom Jordan Stevens, who has played at the varsity level for the last three years.

“Jordan looks real good coming into the season. He’s gotten stronger. We’re looking for him to lead us,” Snyder said.

The only seniors are Ryan James and Mike McCarthy.

The rest of the team is made up of eight juniors (Stevens, Brian Doherty, Mark Kiley, Matt Schumaker, Liam Stegman, James Tucker and Kevin Tully) and a sophomore, Tony Deloatch.

“We hope that defense is our strength. We gave up a lot of points last winter, but our defense set up much of our scoring,” Snyder said. “We’re expecting teams to run zone on us because of Jordan.”