By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — With 4:49 remaining in Friday’s RCAC Division B matchup, the Wilson Magnet boys’ basketball team trailed by 10 points. One Wildcat starter had already left the game with five fouls. Another shouldered four infractions.
So when Brendan O’Toole gathered his team at a timeout, the sixth-year head coach didn’t talk X’s and O’s. Rather he focused on intangibles. The Wildcats, and one in particular, comprehended the message.
Sophomore Brennan Clark netted eight points in the final four minutes of play, and Wilson outscored NE Douglass 14-2 over the final stretch to pull out a 61-59 win.
Clark converted three rebound and putback opportunities including a chance with 1:34 left in regulation to give the Wildcats their first lead of the fourth quarter.
“I felt like I had to start doing better and step up,” the 6-foot-3 forward said. “I had to be more aggressive.”
Trailing 57-48 and playing with four fouls, Clark slipped along the baseline and finished off the window for the first of his four buckets. After Desi Floyd and Anthony Jubray scored, Clark completed his first putback of the sequence. His third with 15.3 left in the contest proved to be the game winner.
He scored all 10 of his points in the fourth quarter.
“We found him and he played more aggressively,” O’Toole said. “It’s a combination. He’s a sophomore. He doesn’t realize how hard he has to play all the time, so he kinda floats a little bit. He started playing hard and that makes it easier for the guys to find him. He started finishing too.”
Wilson’s defense forced two turnovers and allowed just one field goal during the winning rally.
“We didn’t talk about formations or sets or schemes,” O’Toole said of the discussion in the timeout prior to the rally. “We had to play tougher. We had to play harder. We had to do all the dirty things. We had to grind it out. That’s what we talked about in that timeout.
“I just felt like they were outworking us. They were quicker to the rebounds. They were grabbing offensive rebounds on us. They were getting on loose balls. They were just being the more aggressive team. That’s really what we talked about more than anything else.”
Wilson (7-5/4-0) had lost three of four coming into the game but kept pace with World of Inquiry at the top of RCAC Division B.
“Hopefully it gives us some confidence,” O’Toole said. “One of our goals is to win our division. Hopefully we build on that and we continue to get better and eliminate some of the mistakes we’re making.”
Jiahmere Mitchell netted 18 of his game-high 28 points in the first half as NE Douglass took a 36-26 lead into the locker room.
Robert Davis, the RCAC Division B’s leading scorer, connected for 11 of his 20 in the third quarter to pull Wilson back in to the contest. Davis hit a pull-up to give the Wildcats a 40-39 edge. His second 3-pointer of the game two possessions later made it a 43-40 game.
NE Douglass rattled off 10 straight points from there. Mitchell converted one of two from the free throw line on back-to-back trips down the floor. Adonis Flagler drove the lane and finished with a finger roll. Lamar Lovelace drilled a 3 from the right wing and followed Mitchell on the break to give the Panthers a 48-43 advantage.
Mitchell pushed the lead to seven with two more free throws.
“They play as hard as anybody,” O’Toole said of NE Douglass. “They play us tough every time we play them. So I always feel like a win against these guys is a good win. It’s a divisional win.”
Floyd finished with seven points and 13 rebounds.
Malikk Johnson scored all nine of his points in the second quarter with Clark on the bench with two fouls . Jubray had six points. Tony Bradley added four. Rickey Gamble scored five points and handed out four assists before fouling out with five minutes to go.
Lovelace scored 13 for NE Douglass (7-6/3-3). Flagler and Lonnie Watkins, Jr. added eight apiece. Korea Salters chipped in two.
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