They came close to a state basketball title last year and now they are moving down a class. The Batavia boys basketball team is back.

Getting ready to face Westville out of Section III in the Class B State Semifinals this Friday, the Blue Devils got there by playing head coach Buddy Brasky's brand of basketball.

“It's all about defense. Coach Brasky strives defense every day in practice,” said junior Andrew Hoy. “Every day we just come around for a shoot around he talks about the defense and says how the defense is going to get us the win."

“We've really focused on our defense. That's been the main goal for us the whole year, to hold teams to 13 points or under each quarter,” added junior Ryan Funke.

They did that Saturday beating Olean 40-38 in the far west regional, earning back-to-back trips to the State Final Four for the first time in school history.

“Our goal was to get back to Glens Falls,” said Brasky. “In our first team meeting we set our goals and they immediately said they wanted to set that as their top priority. And then we had some sub-goals along the way. But right from the beginning their focus was to make a return trip to Glens Falls."

Up in Class A last year, the Blue Devils fell to powerhouse Jamesville DeWitt and current Syracuse starting point guard Brandon Triche by just eight points, making a statement to the rest of New York.

“It was just a real good test for us. We battled with them. We hung with them. We proved to the whole state that Batavia is a known basketball town and just because we're a small city it doesn't mean we don't know how to play," added Hoy.

Batavia and Westville met Friday at 8:30 p.m. at the Glens Falls Civic Center.