By P.J. Harmer

Staff Writer

ONEONTA _ ’Twas shortly before the season started when the Sidney boys basketball team got manhandled by Sherburne-Earlville in a scrimmage.

Sidney coach Mike Brazee said he went home, looked at the schedule and told his wife the Warriors might be 3-7 by the Christmas break.

Star photo by Julie Lewis Sidney’s Darrin Martindale scores on a jump shot over LaFayette’s Jermaine Thornton, left, James West (33) and Josh Amidon during the third quarter of Saturday’s Class C state quarterfinal at Oneonta State.

Times certainly have changed.

Darrin Martindale had 24 points and 17 rebounds Saturday at Oneonta State’s Alumni Field House, leading the Warriors to a 65-54 victory over LaFayette in a Class C state quarterfinal.

Up next for Sidney (22-2) is Section Two’s Schenectady Christian (25-1) in a state semifinal at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The Falcons advanced with a 60-50 win over Section Seven’s Seton Catholic.

The Warriors are seeking their third state title in school history. Sidney, which claimed championships in 1979 and 1998, last played in the state semis in 2000.

"This is unbelievable and nobody thought we could do it," said Martindale, who was still suffering the effects of dehydration, which landed him in the hospital earlier in the week. "All season we’ve been out to prove everyone wrong and I think we finally did it."

But getting to the promised land of New York State high school basketball couldn’t be as easy as Sidney made it look in the first half. Sidney extended a 16-point halftime lead to 19 when Brett Pendorf converted a three-point play 15 seconds into the third quarter.[an error occurred while processing this directive]