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Scholarship offers are not in the offing for Bethlehem boys' basketball seniors Hayden Thompson, Ryan Murray and Matthew Riker, yet a Section II Class AA title may be in their immediate future.

Regardless of what the Eagles ultimately accomplish in the playoffs, their journey from a team struggling simply to win games last season to a viable title threat is noteworthy. Consider this: Bethlehem lost its first six games during the 2015-16 campaign and stood 1-8 following two losses at Christian Brothers Academy's holiday tournament. The Eagles were seeded 12th among the 13 Class AA teams for sectionals.

This season, the Eagles (17-3) secured the No. 3 seed and begin their playoff quest Tuesday against No. 14 Catholic Central (1-18) at 7 p.m.

"There is not a top dog (in Class AA) this season. Anything can happen," Murray said. "If we could win sectionals, that would be crazy — especially when you think about where we were last season."

"A lot of the teams we play, we're not more athletic than them. We're smaller than just about every team," Riker said. "We pride ourselves on outhustling our opponent, playing great defense and playing well together."

Bethlehem quickly shook off a season-opening 68-67 loss to Schenectady and got the rest of the Suburban Council's attention with wins over Colonie (62-59) and Shaker (66-54) in mid-December,

"We realized we're not underdogs anymore," Thompson said.

"Shaker blew us out last year," Murray said. "With Sloane (Seymour) back, that was a huge win for us. Any time we beat Colonie, that is a ginormous win for us. Those games gave us the confidence to think, 'Hey, we are a team in this league. Let's do this.' That was a great stretch for us."

As the victories began to accumulate, Thompson, Murray and Riker all knew a catalyst to this season's success revolved around last season. A huge factor in that turnaround was injured guard Zane Thompson, who finished his senior season playing with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

"Zane really matured a lot of those guys. He was hard on them," Bethlehem coach A.G. Irons said. "He made them realize they had nothing to lose, and suddenly, we became dangerous."

"I never met someone who loved basketball more than him," Thompson said of his older brother. "He hates losing — absolutely hates it."

Zane Thompson verbally challenged his teammates to demand more from themselves.

"Zane, like his brother, is one of the most competitive kids I know," Riker said. "He was the hardest working kid in practices and he really pushed us."

Hayden Thompson, a 6-foot-2 forward, has blossomed in his second varsity season and tops the team with averages of 17.0 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He is shooting 49 percent from the field.

"He's the emotional leader of the team," Irons said of Thompson. "Hayden wants everyone to do well and he gets everyone fired up."

Murray, who averages 9.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per game to go along with a team-best 55 percent from the field, provides a toughness that belies his 6-foot-1, 190-pound frame.

"I'm not big, tall or muscular. I think it is funny sometimes to see myself on film making post moves and scoring against bigger guys," Murray said. "I like it."

Murray's relentless energy and hustle confounds opponents.

"Ryan knows his limitations: he knows what he can do and can't do," Irons said. "He does all the little things."

Riker is the quintessential old-school point guard: averaging 8.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

"Matt knows the game so well and has been a huge factor for us. He's so under the radar," Thompson said.

"We want Matt running things," Irons said. "Guys don't want to guard him."

jallen@timesunion.com • 518-454-5062 • @TUSidelines

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