By PAUL GOTHAM
JOHNSON CITY, N.Y. — John McCauley wanted to see his guys committed on the defensive end of the floor. The Rochester received his wishes.
“Our thing is make them shoot contested jump shots,” McCauley said after his Rochester squad took two games on the opening day of the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY) Summer Hoops Festival. “No strong-handed drives, no blow-bys. These guys are buying in and doing a great job of it. I can’t be happier as a coach.”
Rochester used a run late in the first half to pull away from Hudson Valley in a 73-66 victory early Friday evening and then dominated reigning champion Central, 77-58 in their second game of the day.
Justice Smith: upfake and take. 4:17 to go in half ROC 25 Hudson Valley 24 pic.twitter.com/8qCNvC46Bo
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 3, 2018
“We got some really good guys, really long athletic guys,” McCauley said. “We just know how to play the game.”
Rochester limited Hudson Valley to two field goals over the last four minutes of the first half and continued the defensive intensity into the second half to turn a deficit into a double-digit advantage.
Trailing 26-25, KeyShawn Ross (UPrep) converted a pair of free throws for a 27-26 edge. Logan Blakenberg (Wayne) followed with two from the stripe and then combined with Kobe Long (McQuaid) on back-to-back 3-pointers.
Miles Brown doing Miles Brown things. pic.twitter.com/KI1MRBxBTr
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 3, 2018
Rochester continued its run after the halftime break, and when Justice Smith (Lyons) drove the lane for an and-one, the Section V gang had a double-digit advantage at 51-42.
“We’ve talked about some defensive cues all week where we’re going to try to take away strong hand and we’re not going to give up the blow by opportunities,” McCauley explained. “We stressed close outs all week. We talked about it all week. Guys have bought in.”
Logan Blankenberg gets free behind the 2-2-1 for 2. pic.twitter.com/gkNKIkFw6N
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 3, 2018
Long connected three times behind the arc and finished the game with a team-high 20 points. Ross added 13, and Miles Brown (Northstar Christian) had 12. Gerald Drumgoole, a NYS Class A 3rd team selection, scored nine points despite sitting out the second half with an ice pack on his knee.
“That’s the thing about this team, you’re never really short-handed,” McCauley added. “You just don’t have as many bodies as you’d like.”
Kobe Long finishing on the break to put ROC up double digits. 62-51 with 2:57 to go pic.twitter.com/1s3ZElADWx
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 3, 2018
Blankenberg contributed eight points, and Smith had six. Steven Mahar (Aquinas) chipped in four points.
Hudson Valley’s Shion Darby (Peekskill) led all scorers with 22.
Long scored seven during an 18-7 run to close the first half to take an 18-point advantage over Central into the break.
Miles Brown threads the needle to KeyShawn Ross. pic.twitter.com/Rck1mFKLiX
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 4, 2018
Coming out of a timeout leading by seven, Drumgooole nailed a pull-up three from the top of the arc. Ross went the length of the floor for a layup. Then Long followed with a layup on one possession and a trey on the next. Long found Drumgoole for an easy deuce in the open floor, and Smith converted one of two from the line for a 20-point lead at 39-19.
Rochester’s defense forced six turnovers and allowed just one shot on 14 of the final 16 possessions of the first half.
Logan: “G, you back there?”
G: “uh-huh!”
Logan: “Here you go.”
Kobe Long scores 7 straight and 9 overall as ROC closes the half on 18-7 run to take a 44-26 lead at the break. pic.twitter.com/FB4Qdxu2VD— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 4, 2018
Central cut the margin to 10 less than four minutes into the first half, but Rochester responded with an 11-4 run capped by Long who took a Drumgoole lead into the court for a lay in.
“We got five different scoring options on the court at all times. That’s a coach’s dream. It’s my job to figure out a way to get them to play the game as easy as possible.”
Long connected six times from the floor in the second half and finished with a game-high 24. Drumgoole added 16. Mahar added 11 while Brown and Ross had 10 apiece. Smith scored five.
Kobe. Long. pic.twitter.com/sNs2NkfxWo
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) August 4, 2018
JJ Starling (Baldwinsville) connected six times behind the arc and led Central with 20 points.
Rochester continues the tournament on Saturday with a noon tipoff against Adirondack, featuring New York State’s all-time leading scoring Joe Girard III. Rochester battles Suffolk in a 4 PM game.
“We’re going to keep playing defense,” McCauley said. “We’re going to try and hit some open shots. We’re going to try and get some guys going tomorrow that didn’t have it going today. Just try to build on today. Today was a good day for us.”
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