Pickin' Splinters

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Trabs Gabs Week 11

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The NE Douglass Panthers travel to Gates-Chili, Wednesday to take on the Spartans in one of this week’s intriguing matchups. (Photo: Paul Gotham/ Pickin’ Splinters)

By MATT TRABOLD

TRABS KEEPS TABS

A Streak Peek

Section V in this sport only boasts one undefeated team at the moment this season. That fact should not discourage local high school basketball fans though because this area is currently producing a quartet of squads on double-digit winning streaks. This fearsome foursome ranges from a couple members of the group being a part of the second largest classification the state has to offer to a pair of sides from slightly smaller classifications. Few aspects of the sporting world are more exciting to monitor than a hefty winning streak, so keep at least one eye out for these four groups going forward this campaign if you have not been already.

The team that tops this list is undefeated Pembroke. The seventeen victories in a row that the Dragons have rattled off this season are also good for being tied for the sixth-best active win streak in the entire state right now. Another team tied for that mark is a Liverpool squad out of the Syracuse area that is playing at Aquinas Institute this Saturday. Pembroke was only the five-seed in its particular sectional bracket two seasons ago, but the Dragons now look like they will be a sectional one-seed for the second consecutive year. The go-to guy for Matt Shay and his staff this season is 6-foot-4 senior Reid Miano. He is one of three players on that roster that stand at least 6-foot-4. That is pretty daunting size if you are another team in Class C1 this time around.

Second on this list is an incredibly familiar name in Greece Athena. The Trojans have strung together thirteen wins in a row since falling on the road much earlier on this season against one of the most pleasant surprises this year in Pittsford Sutherland. It is hard to get your hands on a victory that stakes your claim more as maybe the best team around this regular season than the one Greece Athena picked up in dominating fashion last Wednesday against mighty Irondequoit despite not having the services of Johnny Salone and Melvin Council. Not being able to utilize Salone seemingly would have drastically hurt the defensive stature of the Trojans, but the lead guard trio of Christian Jones, Nigel Scantlebury and Patrick Meisenzahl accumulated all sorts of steals against the Eagles on top of their dizzying and wildly efficient perimeter production on the offensive end.

The other two squads on this list are presently experiencing a winning streak of thirteen games. One of them in Wayne Central was a fairly pleasantly surprising sectional champion last year. These Eagles also can thank Pittsford Sutherland for their only loss this campaign up to this point. Coming into this season, some were not sure what a positively staggering group of rotation returnees would produce this go-around for Bill Thomson and his staff due to Braeden Zenelovic coming away from the most recent football season for the school with a pretty major injury. Nick Carmichael has stepped in valiantly as the main frontcourt option for Wayne Central this year. He is so fundamentally sound and is always getting to the charity stripe.

Caledonia-Mumford has also reigned supreme in its most recent thirteen contests. After averaging nearly a double-double as a junior, 6-foot-4 Ian Lenhardt has grown into being the top star for the Red Raiders during his senior year. Vin Molisani has followed a breakout freshman campaign with another impressive one as a sophomore for Dan Dickens and his staff. Another key returnee for this program has proven to be sniper Jon Boilard.

SLAP YOUR PEEPERS ON THIS FIVER

Northeast Douglass at Gates Chili—Wed., Feb. 7, 7:30 PM
Both of these teams played a ballgame at Rush-Henrietta Senior High School this past weekend. One side fared a little better than the other. With Vincent Ibezim sidelined, the Spartans had a comeback attempt fall just three points short against the top team in the Class AA standings in the sport around here currently in the host Royal Comets. In the latest installment of the Rush-Henrietta Invitational, the Panthers downed Webster Schroeder on a layup over a pair of defenders by Jiahmere Mitchell with only 26 seconds left in regulation. Jiahmere is no stranger to winning games with clutch buckets with less than half of a minute remaining before the final horn sounds.

 

Presently 10-6 Northeast Douglass gets much of its scoring from one of the very top pure scorers in this area this season in Mitchell, but the group for Kyle Crandall and his staff has a number of players that opponents really have to gameplan for. Sophomore Adonis Flagler is the tallest rotation player for the Panthers, but he still effectively brings the ball down the court for the team frequently. Undersized forward Trevion Miller displayed this past weekend that he can hurt the opposition off of the dribble, but his powerful build allows him to also hold his own in the trenches against taller players. Senior guard Miguel Santos is a reliable perimeter offense role player. It is no easy task to legitimately be in the running for the moniker of the most unstoppable player lately for a Gates Chili boys basketball team that currently boasts Keith Slack and an increasingly aggressive Thomas Jones III since he returned from injury, but Damon Payton deserves to be part of that conversation.

Northstar Christian at Charles Finney—Fri., Feb. 9, 7:30 PM
It is not inconceivable that a 5-foot-11 senior guard for the Falcons in Max Harris gets his mitts on the sole state record for career threeballs in this one. That record is currently held by recent Cincinnati Bengals quarterback and current Bishop Timon-St. Jude athletic director Joe Licata with 343 of those bad boys from downtown. Harris going 8-of-12 from deep against Rochester Academy Charter School in that Rush-Henrietta Invitational got him nineteen successful triple tries from having this record all to himself. He effortlessly drained his first seven shot attempts from out there versus the Tigers. Last night, Harris added another four perimeter makes to his career mark against Jasper-Troupsburg. Northstar Christian possesses a trio of storied snipers itself with Matthew Medeiros, Tray Roberts and Ryan Garwood.

Miles Brown did some more Miles Brown things last night for the Knights by going for 43 points in an overtime road win over the squad that could easily win the Class B sectional bracket in the sport around here in a few weeks in World of Inquiry. That outing for Miles included a quartet of threeballs and a contested tip slam. As for Charles Finney, Xavier Smith is arguably one of the very most imposing and bruising frontcourt players in the state for Class C when it comes to scoring through contact and protecting the rim. With Harris taking over more of the perimeter scoring load this season for the Falcons, Keegan Ocorr has been able to mature into one of the silkiest passers this area has to offer on top of his increased pickpocketing skills when the team presses.

 

VIDEO COURTESY OF VARSITY MEDIA

Monroe at Leadership Academy for Young Men—Fri., Feb. 9, 6:30 PM
A week after Leadership Academy for Young Men suffered its first defeat of this season with a home loss against McQuaid Jesuit, the Lions grasped a statement win this past Saturday at the Rush-Henrietta Invitational over Pittsford Sutherland. The battalion for Reggie Simmons and his staff can be so suffocating for an opposing force due to the ability to rather seamlessly interchange at least nine players each outing to work around fouling issues of any kind or specific schemes. Very few, if any, teams presently in this area can run with these Lions. The second the team gains possession, it is off to the races with Rondell Watson and his stupefying quick twitch usually leading that charge. Plus, every member of that massive rotation can get out and run when the situation presents itself. Everybody knows of Watson, Dezmere Ellis and Davon Brown, but depth pieces Marcus Barr, Nate Doyle, 6-foot-5 Tyler Banks, Leevonson McKnight, Shamir McCullough and Shaheem Britt really bury the other team. Keep an eye out for which trio hits more shot attempts from deep in this one between Chris Gibson Jr., Giovanniel Santiago and Jonathan Jones for Monroe and Watson, Brown and Doyle for the home side. Devante Mateo possesses a similar quick twitch skill, so that individual battle with Watson should more than wow.

Greece Olympia at Greece Odyssey—Fri., Feb. 9, 7:15 PM
The current Greece Odyssey boys basketball team finds itself in a rare spot for the program. These Leopards are legitimate sectional title contenders alongside the likes of fellow Class B sides Livonia, World of Inquiry, Mynderse Academy, Penn Yan Academy and Newark. Over the past few weeks, Greece Odyssey has at least more than held its own against a couple of notable larger school foes in Pittsford Sutherland and Batavia. That type of experience should prove invaluable against Class B opposition in postseason play coming up here soon. This column has discussed Jaden Hartsfield and Aric Williams before. Another non-senior in Travon Harper is the gritty starting point guard that is just what the doctor ordered for this team that plays its home games in the old Cardinal Mooney High School building. Harper regularly effectively keeps plays alive by laying out his body out-of-bounds or otherwise. The roster for Greece Olympia boasts one of the most underrated weapons in the Rochester area for the last couple seasons now in the sweet-shooting 6-foot-5 Jeff Jung, Jr.

Irondequoit at Wayne Central—Sat., Feb. 10, 7:30 PM
Irondequoit is arguably the bigger name coming into this one, but Wayne Central is the batch of Eagles out of the two that currently holds a winning streak of thirteen games. That is good for the eighteenth-best active win streak in the state. The loss at Pittsford Sutherland to start this campaign for Wayne Central certainly looks better now. Logan Blankenberg is still undoubtedly the top option for the home side in this one. Blankenberg does absolutely everything at an impressive level for those Eagles. Starting point guard Billy Thomson is maybe the most stoically confident backcourt player in the section these days. Veteran leader Tom Bolt is deserving of his captaincy as one of the many true perimeter threats on this team.

A question mark going into this one is whether or not Luke Melidona gets a little more playing time at point guard going forward this season to allow Gerald Drumgoole and Frederick June, Jr. to play more off of the ball. When the ongoing healing of the wrist of Patrick Thomas finally allows him to play at 100 percent, he is going to be something special in the postseason this year. Say what you want about the manner in which Irondequoit lost last week at Greece Athena, but Josh Stenglein has been nearly unblemished shooting the basketball from outside in every game since he started receiving a lot more minutes when Thomas got hurt.

SECTION V IN DIVISION I UPDATE

Deyshonee Much—Sr., Iona (Gates Chili)
Much is starting to get back to the nationally renowned perimeter prowess that he displayed two seasons ago for the Gaels. In the time since the last edition of this column was published, Deyshonee shot a combined 10-of-14 from downtown against Quinnipiac and Marist. In the victory by 34 points over the Red Foxes this past Sunday, he went 5-of-7 from deep in just the first half as Iona led by 25 points at the halftime break. On the other hand, he actually is currently shooting at the best clip from the charity stripe during his collegiate career thus far. Up to this point in his senior campaign, Much has shot 32-of-38 on foul shots. He has not shot a single free throw in a real game in sixteen days though.

Quinton Rose—So., Temple (Bishop Kearney)
Rose reached double figures in scoring in both of the ballgames the Owls competed in over the last week. Over that span, Quinton recorded a combined 31 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe and a pair of steals against an improved Tulane side and a ranked Wichita State group. He executed one of the top plays of that upset victory over the Shockers when he jumped an opposing passing lane, dribbled the rock almost the entire length of the court and went past a pair of defenders on the break to give Temple a lead with a dunk down the final stretch of regulation. The Owls sit at a record of just 13-10, but their chances at making the 2018 NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid are much better than that record looks. They have a top seven strength of schedule nationally with victories over a rather surprisingly ranked team these days in Clemson, a healthy Southern Methodist, a squad that could easily be named a one-seed in the 2018 NCAA Tournament in Auburn, that ranked collection of Shockers and a duo of bubble teams in Old Dominion and South Carolina.

 

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