By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Will Johnson nailed a late 3-pointer to stop the surging Gates-Chili Spartans, and the Webster Thomas Titans held on for a 61-53 victory, Tuesday night.
Clinging to two-point edge, Johnson took a Joe Luconte feed and connected from the right corner.
“Coach drew up a box set in the timeout,” Johnson explained. “We all know Joe is faster than anyone around and can get in the lane. At that point it’s a matter of whether my man was going to drop off me or not.”
With Luconte drawing the defense Johnson connected on the catch-and-shoot opportunity.
“I had a lot of time,” the senior guard said. “Those are shots you got to hit. It felt good when I released. Some shots you just know. That was one of them.”
It was Johnson’s third basket of the night and second from long range.
“That’s his shot,” said fifth-year Webster Thomas coach Griffin Coles. “He’s a corner shooter. It looked good. He was balanced. His feet were set. He can hit it. Once it left I was thinking it was going in.”
The bucket halted four straight points from the Spartans who nearly erased a double-digit deficit in the final quarter.
“I had all the faith in the world that we were coming back until he hit that shot,” first-year Gates-Chili coach Terry Nowden said. “That’s our blue print, to come back late. Give them the credit.”
The Spartans had forced turnovers on four straight possessions leading up to Johnson’s basket and six Thomas ball handling miscues overall in the final stanza.
“They extended the ball pressure, so we couldn’t really run our sets as well as we wanted,” Coles noted. “We sorta spread them out a little bit, try to find an opening luckily we did.”
Keith Slack led the Gates-Chili rally with nine of his game-high 30 points in the final quarter.
Trailing 51-40, the junior guard drove the lane and finished at the rim. Next trip down the floor, he set up teammate Mark Morrison for three. The 5-foot-9 Slack then scored the next seven G-C points connecting on his fourth 3-pointer of the game and getting baseline for a deuce before converting a pair of free throws to make it a single-possession game at 55-53.
Keith Slack 3 from the corner pulls @GCSpartan_Hoops within 3 at 38-35 with 4:30 to go in 3rd. pic.twitter.com/aAI3kwP7Dd
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 20, 2017
“Keith Slack is one of the best players in all of Rochester,” Coles said. “He’s tough. You throw everything at him, and he just finds a way to score.”
The Spartans had three more chances to tie or take the lead but missed free throw opportunities on two separate trips down the floor.
“We have a young team out there,” Nowden said pointing out the 21 turnovers committed by his squad. “We’re still figuring it out.”
Andrew Mason scored five of his 18 first-half points late in the second quarter as Thomas grabbed a brief double-digit advantage. Mason took a CJ Battaglia lead into the open court and drew contact on a layup for a traditional three-point play. On the next possession, the sophomore used a hesitation dribble to get into the lane for two. Thomas led 36-25.
HALFTIME: Andrew Mason uses the hesi to get to the rim for 2 of his 18 first-half points. @HoopsTitans 36 @GCSpartan_Hoops 28. Joe Luconte has 8 pts. for Thomas. Keith Slack leads GC with 12. Damon Payton has 9. pic.twitter.com/kQZbuc8gBX
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) December 20, 2017
“That was his best half of the year, offensively,” Coles said of Mason. “He just looked composed out there. He let the game come to him. He was more aggressive getting to the rim.”
G-C’s Devin Walton responded with a three-point play of his own to cut the deficit to eight at 36-28 going into the locker room.
Gates-Chili trimmed the lead to three midway through the third quarter.
Stephen Katz scored four straight for the Titans, and Dannie Palmer hit second trey of the night to give Thomas the 51-40 lead with just under seven minutes to play in the contest.
“I am definitely happy with this this win right here,” Coles said. “Gates-Chili is a good team. They’re tough. They got weapons everywhere.”
Mason finished with 20 points for Thomas. Luconte, the reigning Monroe County Division II Player of the Week, added 10 points and seven assists. Katz had eight points and Battaglia four for the Titans.
Damon Payton scored nine for G-C. Morrison chipped in with five.
Slack, who came in averaging 25.2 points per game, grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists.
Thomas improved to 4-1 with the win. Gates fell to 3-2.
Other scorers: Thomas – Caden Hann (5). Gates-Chili – Traylan McCray (1) and Adam Williams (5).
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