None of the current Cardinals were alive yet when Hind reached the pinnacle of New York high school basketball, but it has been his goal to get back there ever since.

That quickly became this group’s goal when they first met Hind many years ago.

“Coach has been talking about this since the day we met him,” Randolph senior Jaiden Huntington said after last Saturday’s Far West Regional victory to advance to Glens Falls. “He always said we’re not going to forget this moment and we’re definitely not going to forget this game.”

The Cardinals achieved that goal thanks to a defensive masterclass and big-game performances from seniors Carson Conley and Huntington in the Class C Far West Regional against Section V champion Lyons. Randolph implemented a new defensive game plan just days prior to the contest and its balanced attack on offense led to a convincing 57-47 victory.

Pictured above are the Randolph Cardinals boys basketball team after defeating Section V’s Lyons in the Far West Regional at Gates Chili High School last Saturday. The Cardinals play Section IV’s Moravia on Friday morning in the NYSPHSAA Class C semifinals at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls. Photo by Mike Frame

Now that Randolph has reached Glens Falls, it has just two more steps before reaching the ultimate goal: the state Class C championship.

The first obstacle is Friday at 11:15 a.m. at Cool Insuring Arena against top-ranked Moravia (22-1) of Section IV. Located just south of Owasco Lake, Moravia knocked off Section III Dolgeville 58-38 in its regional matchup. The further teams get in the state tournament, the less familiarity they’ll have with one another, but both Randolph and Moravia have posted a win over Lyons this season.

There were plenty of differences in how each team won against a highly offensive Lyons team. Both teams managed to limit Lyons far below its season average of 80 points per game, but it was done in different ways.

Randolph forced the Lions to try and win with their second or third best options by taking top scorer JC Walker away with no easy trips to the basket, while Moravia allowed Walker to play his game and just managed to come out on top 53-50.

“That’s all we talk about at practice,” Huntington added after the victory over Lyons. “Defense, defense, defense and rebounding is important.”

Moravia’s roster includes several players taller than 6 feet. To match the size of a player like Walker, Randolph boasts just two starters above that threshold, Huntington and Conley. However, the pair of Randolph seniors have shown all year they are not just limited to success in the paint, but they combine with sophomore Drew Hind for the best trio of 3-point shooters Kevin Hind has had together all at once.

“Coach builds our confidence,” Huntington said of the Randolph offense. “We shoot all the time in practice, we’ve been working on it for our whole lives pretty much. Coach has so many sets that we can run for anybody on the team.”

With Randolph’s offense able to score at every level of the game, Moravia may be put in a situation like Lyons was where it needs to keep up with shots beyond the arc. The Blue Devils made just six 3-pointers in their regional qualifier. The group expected to carry the brunt of the offense is Kyler Proper, Joseph Baylor, Abram Wasileski and Aiden Kelly.

While Randolph may be the toughest matchup Moravia has seen this year, it has knocked off some tough competition, including defending Class C state champion Newfield 73-51 in the Section IV playoffs. Newfield is also the only team that has managed to beat Moravia this season, posting a 66-47 victory in January.

Moravia’s scoring depth goes a little bit deeper than Randolph’s, so for the Cardinals to advance to their first state final, they will need big games from Hind, Huntington and Conley. If Moravia wins, it will be one step closer to reaching the top of Class C basketball again after winning it all in 2017 against Section II Lake George 54-39.

The winner of Randolph-Moravia will take on the winner of the 9:30 a.m. semifinal matchup between Section I Haldane (20-4), located across from West Point on the Hudson River, and Section X Canton (17-6), located roughly 20 minutes east of SUNY Potsdam.

The Section I champion, Haldane, has had the longest road having beaten Section IX Rhinebeck 65-47 in a subregional matchup and then topping Section XI Pierson 57-53 in a regional final. The Blue Devils are led by 6-foot-5 senior Matteo Cervone, who scored 26 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the regionals, which sent Haldane back to Glens Falls for the first time since 2016 when it came up a game short to Section VI Middle Early College 82-40.

Haldane figures to be more reliant on its big man than Lyons, as the Blue Devils did not hit a single 3-pointer in their regional matchup against Pierson and have one in their last four games.

Section X Canton is the lowest-ranked team remaining, having lost six times this season, keeping it at No. 7 in the state. The Golden Bears had a rocky start to the season stumbling out of the gates with a 1-5 record, but since then have been on fire to get to the state final four.

This is the Golden Bears’ first season in Class C, having ruled Class B in Section X for several years. Canton is no stranger to the state tournament with a finals appearance in 2017 against Westhill, but it will now look to make its mark on Class C.

Canton will have a height mismatch against most high school teams with its 6-foot-8 center Ayomi Odetoyinbo, but it will have to prove it can keep up with the smaller, fast-paced offenses. Ryan Jones led the Golden Bears offensively in their regional matchup against Chatham, scoring 21 points in the 64-59 victory.

The winner of each semifinal will face off Saturday night at 5:15 for the title.