By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the third time in as many wins the McQuaid Jesuit Knights used a decisive second quarter. This time they did it without their leading scorer.
Saddled with two fouls, Isaiah Stewart went to the bench early in the second quarter. His teammates didn’t skip a beat. Anthony Iglesia connected on his first of five 3-pointers, and McQuaid outscored Penfield by nine on their way to a 68-58 victory over the Penfield Patriots in the opening round of the Class AA sectionals.
Iglesia’s pull-up three ball from the top of the key gave McQuaid its first double-digit lead of the game at 26-14.
“We shared the ball pretty well,” McQuaid coach Jack Leasure said. “When we started to move it quickly and started to move it unselfishly, then we had some success.”
Thomas Jones followed with back-to-back buckets. Divine Williams connected from behind the arc, and Cam Wilson knocked down a jumper.
Stewart went to the bench with 6:28 remaining in the quarter, and McQuaid leading by nine. The Jesuit Knights took a 36-23 lead going into the locker room.
Kobe Long goes to the heat check early. @MJSNetwork15 pic.twitter.com/aYcbS9Sz0H
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 23, 2017
The situation was not unfamiliar to the Knights who played without Stewart and Jones for the first three months of the season because of injuries.
“We have had three seasons,” Leasure said. “Our first season was the group out there for the last four minutes (when Jones went to the bench). Those guys have a lot of maturity and experience from that and have played very well in tough situations.
“We have had our season where we were trying to kinda mesh in new players and figure things out. Now we’ve sorta figured that out, and we’re into the post season and everyone is on the same page.”
From the opening tip, Penfield (9-12) packed in a 2-3 zone around Stewart who came into the game averaging 19.6 points. The Patriots harassed the 6-foot-8 forward in the paint, and the scheme showed promise when McQuaid led by just four at 18-14 after the first quarter.
The plan unravelled in the third when Kobe Long and Iglesia took advantage of open space on the perimeter to connect five times behind the arc.
Anthony Iglesia pulls up for three. pic.twitter.com/Tibl4XeXyT
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 23, 2017
“When they pack in the zone I automatically think that I’m going to get open shots,” Long said. “It’s hard to stop us when you pack in a zone.”
Stewart followed a thunderous dunk with a finish at the rim on high-low feed from Wilson. Iglesia took over from there and drilled back-to-back bombs to fetch a timeout from the Penfield bench.
The break in action didn’t matter.
Three possessions later, Long nailed the first of three straight triples. The freshman hitting from the left wing and following with a catch-and-shoot dagger from the top of the key before Iglesia found the measure from the right wing for a 57-34 McQuaid advantage going into the fourth quarter.
“I think we’re in a pretty good spot,” Leasure said. “Doing little things well and playing really hard and being a family on the floor.”
Stewart finished with a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds. Iglesia handed out seven assists to go with 15 points on five 3-pointers. Long had 12 points all on three balls. Jones chipped in 10 points and grabbed six boards. Williams connected three times behind the arc and scored nine. The Jesuit Knights connected 13 times from long range. Adding salt to the wound, the 6-foot-9 Wilson also had a triple.
Isaiah Stewart with the finish. pic.twitter.com/06ezZpRgdi
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 23, 2017
Kyle Straube led Penfield with 16 points. Isaiah Preston had 12 and Mirza Mesic, 11.
McQuaid outscored East 26-16 in the second quarter en route to a 91-64 victory on February 10th. They closed the regular season with a 28-11 second stanza in a 64-45 win over Aquinas.
“Just playing our hardest and getting the biggest lead we can going into the third quarter,” Iglesia said. “That’s what we try to focus on. Getting momentum going into halftime.”
McQuaid moves on to play second-seeded Victor in the quarter-finals. The Jesuit Knights defeated the Blue Devils 50-47 in last year’s opening round. A 4 pm tipoff is scheduled at Victor High School on Saturday.
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