Colonie's Tashan Newsome is closely guarded by Catholic Central's Chris Bouchard during Sunday's Section II Class AA quarterfinal at the Times Union Center. (Mike McMahon — The Record)

12:38 pm: I'm logged into the wireless here at the former Pepsi Arena and I'll be bringing you updates from the boys class AA quarterfinals throughout the day.
Troy High is just about to hit the court to take their warmups and the game against CBA will be starting in a matter of minutes.
CBA won both regular season meetings and they are expected to do the same today, but Troy is coming off a big road upset at Shen. Can't ask for a better venue for high school hoops - the kids look excited to be playing on the big floor.

1:37 pm: It's halftime here, CBA holding a 34-22 edge. Malcolm Austin has been huge so far, 19 points in the first half with three 3-pointers. Kameron Ritter scored CBA's first 4 points, but picked up his second foul at 5:21 in the first and hasn't come off the bench since.
However, guards Galal Cancer and Pete Wolfgang, along with John Mantas have picked up the pace on the point.

Troy had a nice 9-0 run at the end of the first and beginning of the second, but CBA charged right back with an 8-0 clip of their own.

Troy's Dan McClaren has done a good job on CBA's rangy Andrew Stire, but the Flying Horses don't have a match for big Brother DeAndre Kennedy. Kennedy only has six points so far, but he's been big on the defensive glass.

We'll see if Troy can get going in the second half and pull off another upset.

3:15 pm: It's halftime of the CCHS-Colonie game. Colonie has a 31-22 lead at the break.

No upset in the first game, CBA cruised to a 79-53 victory thanks to Malcolm Austin's 30 points. John Mantas hit three clutch treys early in the third quarter to put the game away.

In this game, Colonie's Tashan Newsome has 15 points - three 3-pointers and a perfect 6-of-6 performance from the free throw line. Sean Peer's also chipped in 7.

The Crusaders are off to a slow start, Devin Grimes has only 9 points, only two of those in the second quarter. Newsome has done a great job locking down CCHS' Jordan Gettings, not allowing him many shots. Gettings has been held to 7 so far.
It's far from over, but if Colonie can keep up the good defense and if Newsome continues his sharpshooting, the Raiders may likely be facing Bishop Maginn in the semis on Thursday.

4:21 pm: Colonie held on for the 64-41 victory, Newsome finished with 28 points, including a 12-of-12 performance from the line. Herb Tedford chipped in 16 and Sean Peer added 14 for the Garnet Raiders.

Devin Grimes of CCHS was just overwhelmed in the paint by the tall duo of Tedford and Peer. Grimes and Gettings were held to a combined 25 points - Colonie's defense down low the difference.

CCHS never looked comfortable on offense, Newsome was sticky on Gettings and did not look like his normal self.

The Raiders will play the winner of the Maginn-Amsterdam game on Thursday.

With 3:27 to go in the first quarter, it's Guilderland 15, Shaker 8.

5:21 pm: With 6 minutes to go in the game, it's Guilderland 52-39.

The Dutchmen have dominated all game long and look like they have themselves a date with CBA on Thursday.

9:36 pm: Well, I'm back at the office and my stories are done. Shaker made it a game in the closing minutes, but the Dutchmen held on for a 63-57 win over the Bison.

The fourth and final game was not nearly as close. The Bishop Maginn Golden Griffins kept their steamroller rolling with a 108-50 win over Amsterdam. The Griffins, ranked No. 2 in the state, are also on a 17-game winning streak and will face a pumped-up Colonie squad on Thursday.
The Griffs bounced the Raiders in the quarters last year.

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All in all, not a bad day of basketball. The first two games were not especially close, and in the CBA-Troy contest, that was to be expected. However, it looked like the Flying Horses program took a step forward. The junior-laden team picked up some experience playing in a big gym against a quality team. (CBA is No. 12 among New York's AA teams).
Troy's 9 juniors should be a formidable force in the Big 10 next year - especially with teams such as CBA, Maginn and CCHS graduating key seniors.

CBA looks strong every time I see them. Guilderland will have its collective hands full, but if Marfurt and Kevin Kost can light it up from behind the arc, the Brothers could stand a challenge.

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Catholic High surprised many tonight in losing by 23 points. This was supposed to be a battle between two very evenly matched teams and I expected a barnburner. However, Newsome never relented and Peer and Tedford really put a blanket on Grimes underneath and Gettings never got many shots off from the outside. Colonie played the perfect formula and the Raiders stepped up to the challege. Maginn ought to be a little worried about Thursday's game.

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I'll be in Glens Falls for Rensselaer-Maple Hill on Tuesday, Hoosic Valley-Fonda-Fultonville on Thursday and Albany Academy-Mohonasen on Friday. Finals for B, CC, C and D are on Saturday, all from Glens Falls. The AA finals are Monday in Albany and the A final is Tuesday in Glens Falls.

The only team I have yet to see is Fonda, so please feel free to send me your predicitions on that one to troyrecordsports [at] gmail.com

-- Will Montgomery