By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — After watching a double-digit second half lead nearly evaporate, John Geglia knew it was time for a change. The fifth-year Early College coach called a timeout and made a defensive adjustment.
His Cobras responded with a decisive 11-0 run.
Bryan Harrell scored nine of his team-high 17 points in the final 3:47 as Early College defeated Hornell, 65-50 in Class C1 quarter-final action Friday.
“We went man to get some ball pressure and force some opportunities,” Geglia said of the late game change. “We wanted to pick up the pressure a little bit and see if we can get some opportunities out in transition.”
After converting a pair of free throws, Harrell finished a layup on the break and followed with another bucket when teammate Shandare Figgins collected a steal and found Harrell ahead of the defense for two more.
Hornell called timeout, but it was too late. Harrell and Early College had regained momentum.
“When he wants to he can take over the game,” Geglia said of the senior forward. It’s just a matter of getting him the ball in a position where he can be successful, and we did. We did a couple times on the break.”
In a matter of 1:45 Early College turned a one-point edge into a 12-point bulge.
“When they had cut it to one, it was time to regroup,” Geglia explained.”We went zone earlier in the half just to protect Bryan who was in foul trouble. At the end of the game I didn’t have to worry about him fouling out as much as the third quarter.”
Figgins, Tajmin Holt and Manny Cotton all converted free throws for 58-46 lead with 2:02 to go.
“We just knew that we had to pick up the intensity, and we know that defense wins games,” Harrell stated. “That’s what we wanted to do – use our defense to create buckets.”
Early College led by as many as 12 points early in the second quarter before Hornell rallied to the deficit to three at 25-22 going into the locker room at halftime.
Holt responded with seven points and three assists in third quarter to push the lead back to double digits.
“We were lackadaisical,” Holt said about the end of the second quarter. “We had to pick it up and play more as a team. We came out pretty tough. I found open gaps and started attacking the basket and got some layups.”
The senior guard went high off the glass for two. Then he found Harrell in the lane for a bucket. Jagdeep Drumgoole drove baseline and dished to Holt for a deuce. Holt fed Jermer Murrell for a reverse layup. Holt’s three pushed the advantage to a dozen, and Harrell converted one of two from the charity stripe for a 37-24 Early College lead with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.
“He definitely came out with an attitude to win in the third quarter,” Geglia said of Holt. “I thought he was committed to getting it into the paint and getting it to the rim. Too often I thought we were settling for threes a lot. Obviously their game plan was to pack it into the paint and make us shoot threes. He kinda took it upon himself to get the ball into the paint and make some things happen. That gave us some confidence we could build on. Once he starts to go, everybody else starts to go.”
Dante Milliner sparked the Hornell rally. The junior forward scored back-to-back buckets in the lane. His catch-and-shoot three pointer from the right corner made it a 39-33 game. Jake Dunn started the fourth quarter with a three, and Milliner’s basket made it a one-possession game at 47-44. Matt Smith went end-to-end for a layup to cut the lead to one at 47-46.
“They just never quit,” Geglia said. “They kept battling and battling and battling. Give them a lot of credit. They came in and played really tough.”
Holt finished with 16 points for Early College. Figgins added 11.
Milliner led all scorers with 18. Dunn had 12.
Early College (15-7) will play top-seeded Mynderse (20-1) which beat Greece Odyssey 61-51 in the quarter-finals.
On the other side of the bracket, No. 2-seed Newark beat Midlakes, 64-50. Third-seeded Livonia edged Penn Yan, 37-36. Semi-final action will place next Wednesday at Victor high school.
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