By MATT TRABOLD
TRABS KEEPS TABS
The Forgotten Side of Class A
It has been a little while since Section V boys basketball has seen a race in any classification towards the end of the regular season the caliber of what is being seen right now in Class A1 with Greece Athena, Pittsford Mendon, Irondequoit and Pittsford Sutherland. Even though all four of those squads have played at least eleven games each through this point of the year, that quartet has combined for just four losses thus far.
While the teams at the top of the standings contending for the Class A2 crown this year only contain one side that most would consider elite across the section, there is a legitimate group of other battalions in this classification that are more than competitive. If you have been following this season, you can probably summate that the elite billing mentioned above would go to Leadership Academy for Young Men and its 87.6 combined points an outing.
VIEW MORE CHRISTOPHER CECERE PHOTOS HERE.
One of the most impressive sides below the Lions in this classification this year is Monroe. Local inside-outside titan Chris Gibson Jr. might have recently scored the thousandth point of his scholastic career against Aquinas Institute, but it is hard to look past Devante Mateo as the top satisfier of the eye test for the Redjackets these days. Mateo has a quick twitch that routinely sends defenders to the floor or allows him to speed past them to the tin as they stay standing. Plus, Devante could easily be the most wonderfully confident player in the section this go-around. The perimeter prowess of Giovanniel Santiago has been quite the addition to that starting rotation since breaking into it a chunk of games into this season. After starting a year ago, Trevone Glasgow is now a solid brutish frontcourt option off of the bench for Matt McCormick and his staff.
The defending Class A2 sectional champion in this sport in Wayne Central currently stands at a stout 10-1 record. 6-foot-4 junior Logan Blankenberg has valiantly filled in the role of top option for the Eagles since Braeden Zenelovic got injured. There are not many, if any, frontcourt players in the section this year that display more basketball IQ down low than Nick Carmichael. Nick is constantly making sure to get legitimate shots off right before the defense collapses and getting short jumpers to fall around the paint. The team the Eagles took down to get their hands on the sectional crown referenced above in Wilson Magnet is also finding plenty of success this time around, and not just from the exploits of its key returnees. Many know the names of Robert Davis and Desi Floyd, but lanky 6-foot-3 sophomore Brennan Clark has been stringing together some major performances down the stretch.
Honeoye Falls-Lima presently sits in the fourth spot of those standings with an 8-5 mark. The wingspan of 6-foot-6 senior Dan Hayes definitely draws in many an eye during games for the Cougars. Jack Eastman is getting closer and closer to the type of production his renowned older brother in Tommy Eastman brought upon opponents while at Honeoye Falls-Lima recently. Reginald Smith and Ethain Clarke DeSouza are only freshmen, but do not be shocked if they are at the forefront of School of the Arts making a sectional run here in a few weeks. It would not be the first time one of the teams of Al Nash strung together one of those.
SLAP YOUR PEEPERS ON THIS FIVER
Batavia at Greece Odyssey—Wed., Jan. 24, 7:15 PM
The Leopards turned quite a few heads last Wednesday by only falling by six points against a Pittsford Sutherland side that was undefeated at the time. Plus, that narrow final deficit for Greece Odyssey was still not even indicative of how close a ballgame that really was. A rangy 6-foot-1 sophomore for the Leopards this season in Jaden Hartsfield is one of the most underrated underclassmen in the section currently. DJ Billings has successfully transitioned from perimeter role player to arguably the go-to guy for the home squad in this one as a senior. A powerful Aric Williams was nearly unstoppable flying through the lane and scoring against Pittsford Sutherland in the second half of that one last week.
TeeSean Ayala is the one true holdover from the team of Blue Devils that was the Section V representative in Class A state postseason play in this sport two years ago. Ayala and Antwan Odom were supposed to be stalwarts for Batavia this time around as well. That they have been with the pair averaging a combined 30.6 points an outing so far this campaign. The monumental pleasant surprise though has been the scoring punch of junior guard Mason McFollins.
Fairport at Gates Chili—Fri., Jan. 26, 7:30 PM
When these two sides did battle early on this season on December 15, the Spartans stuck right with the Red Raiders for just about the entire ballgame. The crew for Terry Nowden and his staff accomplished that feat despite star frontcourt player Thomas Jones III being sidelined back then. Jones is now back on the floor and setting a new season-high in scoring just about every time out down the regular season stretch here. A Spartan that has broken out lately alongside Keith Slack in that backcourt is absurdly quick junior Traylan McCray. A battle of guards to watch in this one is between McCray and whichever Red Raider he is matched up with most often, whether that be an Andrew Bartlett or a Vanzell Johnson.
This game will feature a surplus of inside-outside threats in the form of Jones III for the home side on top of Mike Brown and Jackson Sullivan for the away force. Fairport might not have quite as much scoring prowess as last year, but the impeccable system that Scott Fitch and his staff runs has resulted in the Red Raiders being second in scoring defense in the Monroe County ranks at the moment this season.
VIEW MORE CHRISTOPHER CECERE PHOTS HERE.
Pittsford Sutherland at Greece Athena—Fri., Jan. 26, 6:45 PM
Speaking of rematches, this one has been heartily anticipated for a long time by fans in this area because the only loss for the Trojans this season thus far came by nine points on the road against Pittsford Sutherland. Ironically, that first meeting this campaign also occurred on December 15. When the Knights fell in overtime this past Friday at the hands of their rival in Pittsford Mendon, they fell all the way to the fourth spot in the current Class A1 standings for this sport despite that being their only loss of the campaign up to that point. Greece Athena currently sits atop those standings with a 12-1 record.
It is hard not to have your eyes wander to the frontcourt battle above all else in this ballgame. Both front lines have a forward with more boings than their more productive as far as scoring goes and slightly more traditional teammate up there. The springier big men being referenced there are Matt Thaney for the Knights and Johnny Salone for the Trojans. Between 6-foot-6 Kevin Ryan for Pittsford Sutherland and 6-foot-5 Ryan Kubanka for Greece Athena, they have unleashed a wide array of confident post moves on opposing bigs for the first eight weeks of this season. Out of the two, Kubanka has displayed more of an ability to step out and hit jumpers in his scholastic career so far. Craig Rosen and Josh Rosen certainly have the superior size, but a sizable question mark going into this ballgame is whether or not that can stay with Christian Jones and Nigel Scantlebury yet again.
McQuaid Jesuit at Leadership Academy for Young Men—Sat., Jan. 27, 12:30 PM
This area would have been graced with this bad boy back a few weeks ago on January 5 if not for some extreme winter weather. A three-point contest could break out this Saturday afternoon on Lake Avenue mainly behind Anthony Iglesia and Kobe Long for the Knights on top of Rondell Watson and Nate Doyle for the Lions. This past Friday, Leadership Academy for Young Men reached triple figures in scoring yet again in a game that Edison Tech was more than competitive in for much of the first half before falling by 25 points. Watson and senior Dezmere Ellis usually score at least twenty points each in ballgames these days. The pair has averaged a combined 42.5 points an outing through twelve games this season. That is how you get to being one of only two undefeated squads left, alongside the Pembroke Dragons, in the ninth week of a regular season.
Not many players around these parts have what it takes to even have a chance to legitimately go toe-to-toe with Watson when it comes to scoring in a single game. It is astounding how Watson successfully gets shots off regardless of what kind of motion he is in or how his body is contorted in relation to the rim when he hoists the basketball. A breakout sophomore for McQuaid Jesuit in Jermaine Taggart and his 18.9 points an outing might be able to pull off that task. His claim to fame this year is the double-digit scoring bursts that he concocts in the first halves of outings. With Davon Brown accumulating so many blocked shots as a senior and Marcus Barr playing so much taller than he stands this campaign, 6-foot-6 Connor Zamiara is going to really have to use his bulk well this weekend to help even things out against what the Lions have brought to the table this time around.
Canisius High at Bishop Kearney—Sat., Jan. 27, 3:30 PM
The Kings are a completely different team in a positive way since starting point guard Shykell Brown returned from injury recently. Bishop Kearney beat Section II powerhouse Green Tech this past weekend by double figures despite high-flying leading scorer Anthony Gray being sidelined. The only underclassman on this roster in Michael Gentile is arguably the most red-hot option for the Kings at the moment after he dropped a career-high sixteen points, including a trio of threeballs in the second quarter alone, against that Green Tech side. Kevin Goode Sr. and his staff could really use the springs of Gray in this one because Ryan Bradley, Austin James and Nick MacDonald are no strangers to dunking the basketball for the Crusaders. The hardwood skills Bradley possesses when it comes to finishing above the rim and hitting jumpers makes him the one to watch above all else for Canisius High. Even after their recent loss to another Section VI juggernaut in The Park School of Buffalo, these Crusaders are still ranked sixth in the state this week for Class A. Along with Rush-Henrietta, Canisius High accounted for one of the only two defeats Irondequoit has suffered this season thus far.
SECTION V IN DIVISION I UPDATE
Dontay Caruthers—Jr., Buffalo (East High)
As if the Bulls needed any more positives to occur in conference play this season, Dontay returned to action this past Friday against stout NBA Draft prospect Thomas Wilder and Western Michigan after being sidelined for eleven games due to a stress fracture in one of his feet. Caruthers did not get as much playing time as usual versus the Broncos as he gets back into the swing of things, but he certainly made his presence felt in those fourteen minutes off of the bench. He recorded four points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field and two assists in that one. Nate Oats, Bryan Hodgson and the Bulls are dominating the Mid-American Conference this campaign so far like no team has reigned supreme over that conference in a very, very long time. The conversation at this point should instead be about whether or not these guys are going to win a second game in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. Eastern Michigan could be a pretty tough test for that contingent tonight with the Eagles boasting one of the best frontcourts in the mid-major ranks with James Thompson IV and Elijah Minnie.
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