By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — It took a career night, a pair of double-doubles, a highlight reel dunk and a defensive adjustment. Added up it equalled a dramatic come-from-behind victory.
Patrick Thomas netted a career-high 21 points to go with 15 rebounds and five assists as the Bishop Kearney Kings erased a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter on their way to a 69-63 victory over the ninth-ranked (NYS Class A) East High Eagles in non-league action Saturday evening.
Thomas connected on all 10 of his shots from the floor including three field goals during the fourth quarter when Bishop Kearney outscored East, 31-14.
“I was just trying to do whatever my team needed of me,” Thomas said. “We had no doubt that we were going to win the game. We supported one another.”
Bishop Kearney, which committed 12 turnovers through the first three quarters of play, finished the fourth quarter without a miscue. At the same time, the Kings forced five mishandles and connected on 11 of 14 shots as a team over the final eight minutes of play.
“That was the execution of everything we planned,” Bishop Kearney coach Kevin Goode, Sr. said. “There weren’t any plays being run. It was execution. Everybody being in the right spot where they’re supposed to be. Pass, pass, pass layup. That’s everything that we worked on.”
Trailing by eleven to start the final stanza, Thomas converted one of two free throws and on the next possession the sophomore forward fed front-court mate Jamal Fennell for two of his 13 points on the night.
“Between Patrick and Jamal cleaning up the rebounds, sharing the ball with each other and making the right passes so each other can get wide open layups that’s says a lot,” Goode stated. “They’re willing to work hard and sacrifice points for their teammates, so we can be successful.”
Kevin Goode, Jr. gave Kearney its first lead since 2-0 when he hit a pair of free throws with 3:37 remaining in the game. Thomas scored underneath for a 56-55 edge, and Nahziah Carter completed a traditional three-point play for a lead the Kings did not surrender at 59-57.
After accounting for just two points over the first three quarters of play, Carter scored 11 in the final eight minutes while dishing five dimes.
“At the beginning of the game I wasn’t getting too many touches,” said the University of Dayton commit. “They were doubling and tripling me, trapping me in the corners. I wasn’t getting touches at the guard position.”
Carter’s basket the next trip down the floor gave BK a two-possession advantage at 61-57.
“That’s what we need to see,” Goode remarked. “When he’s active, we’re dangerous. As soon as he started catching the basketball and moving or moving without the basketball, we were finding him and getting him to the basket.”
Sheldon Adams pushed the lead to six with an emphatic tomahawk dunk.
“‘KG’ (Goode Jr.) found me from the middle,” Adams explained. “When I turned around nobody was on me, so I just knew to attack. It was the adrenaline.”
Adams rose up between three East Eagles for a slam that caused a brief stoppage in play when fans spilled on to the East High court.
East High was up 11 points after 3Q. This slam by 6-0 @shellz_thegreat put @BkSportss up by 6 points w/ 1:26 left. @PickinSplinters #SCTop10 pic.twitter.com/i822lEE6St
— Matt Trabold (@TrabsMatt) February 5, 2017
“He attacked the basket and I tell you right now that’s one of the strongest finishes I’ve seen,” Goode Sr. noted. “His three wasn’t falling in the first half, and he wouldn’t move. If your shot’s not falling, you to attack the basket and I had been yelling at him. I had him on the bench for a while to learn that I wanted him attacking the basket.”
To East’s credit they rallied. Zion Morrison hit one of his three treys of the fourth quarter to make it 63-60 game with 1:14 remaining.
Kearney converted four of six free throws, and Thomas scored on a run out to ice the victory.
East used a 2-2-1 press to build an 18-9 lead after the first quarter and a 27-21 margin going into the locker room at halftime. Morrison netted six of his game-high 24 points in the first half. Windell Lucas added eight of his 17.
But the Kings eventually solved East’s press.
“We went into a 1-3-1,” Adams explained. “Since they had a two-man front, we had to go one-man front. We really made the adjustment in the first half, but we weren’t running how we were supposed to. Second half we were running like coach told us to.”
At the same time, Kearney made a change on the defensive end.
“We went zone starting the second half,” Goode said. “First half they were getting a lot of baskets at the rim. We just had to focus on making sure we stopped them from driving and being able to get outside and contest the three-point shot.”
Fennell finished with 12 rebounds and six assists. Adams had 11 points. Carter grabbed four boards. Kearney was 18 of 25 from the floor in the second half.
East’s Lucas had four rebounds and three blocks. The senior guard was 5-of-10 from the floor.
Cypher Campbell-Boller chipped in eight for East.
Kearney improved to 11-5 on the season. The Kings host UPrep on Tuesday. The Griffins are ranked No. NYS Class AA.
East fell to 12-5. The Eagles host Monroe on Tuesday.
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