By JOHN LIKANJE
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Hilton Cadets have managed to stay sharp despite a schedule in the early going that had few games. Although the Section V Boys Basketball season started right before Thanksgiving, head coach Troy Prince’s squad did not play their first game until December 7th at Rush-Henrietta (W: 61-47).
“Make practice pretty competitive to where everything’s a competition,” Prince explained about how he has kept his team prepared for games. “We probably have 10 different little contests on a daily basis.”
Since then, the Cadets (4-0) have played three games over the past couple of weeks, including Thursday night as they defeated the Penfield Patriots (1-5), 81-51.
Three players scored in double figures for the Cadets. Junior guard Tah-jae Hill came off the bench and netted a team-high 19 points, including going 10-10 from the free throw line, knocking down a shot from beyond the arc, and finishing two breakaway layups after a steal-one of them being a dunk.
“They were playing a lot of zone,” Prince explained when observing the Patriots’ defense. “We emphasized that against the man, we want to be a little bit more unselfish and against the zone, we want to attack. We kind of took those philosophies and blended them. We attack and swung it and made the extra pass.”
Senior forward Mitchell Carr scored seven straight in the first quarter on a long-range shot from the right corner and a couple of layups to give the Cadets a 24-9 lead. He finished with 18 points, including converting six free throws.
“Getting Mitch going is huge because he’s such a good scorer,” Prince said about Carr’s performance. “I thought tonight was the first night other than our scrimmages in which he displayed that.”
Sophomore forward Ryan Kurtz was efficient around the basket, making five layups as part of his 17 points. He also swished a three-pointer from the right corner and was 4-4 from the charity stripe.
In the third quarter, Hill and Carr combined to go on a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 50-26. In the first half, the Cadets had multiple double-digit scoring runs to aid their fast start to the game. In the second quarter, Carr, Hill, and junior guard Colin Burkis did all the scoring during a 17-3 spurt for a 37-12 edge. After giving up a three-pointer on the first possession of the game, the quartet of Burkis, Carr, Kurtz, and senior guard Noah Malta responded with a 13-0 run of their own.
Burkis (9), Alexander Mistretta (5), Jack Gombatto (4), Sean Alabaugh (2), Jason Story (2), Malta (2), Davion Savage (2), and Najier Daniels (1) rounded out the scoring for the Cadets.
“I’m happy for the guys that haven’t had an opportunity to go in a whole lot,” Prince said after 11 of his 13 players scored tonight. “We played a terrific first half on both ends of the floor and got those guys an opportunity that they deserved because they work hard every day and are great teammates.”
For the Patriots, senior guard Javion Monroe scored a team-high 10 points.
Ryan Wilkins (8), Patrick Piampiano (7), Daniel Vercruysse (6), Ethan Fici (4), Matthew Gable (3), Collin Pichany (3), Jayden Bulger (2), Roderick Green (2), Tyler Salmon (2), Ryan Wensley (2), and Brady Flanagan (2) rounded out the scoring for the Patriots.
Hilton has another week off before hosting a tournament next Friday night featuring Bishop Kearney, Greece Athena, and Eastridge. The Cadets will match up with Kearney in the nightcap of the first round. Game set to tip off at 6:30 PM.
“It’s going to be a great tournament,” Prince said as he looks forward to next week. “Some guys may be young, but they (Bishop Kearney) got some talent.”
“Starting with the (Kidtrell) Blocker kid, he is trouble,” he continued. “He’s terrific. Miles Monchecourt is tough. I went and watched them last week and they got a lot of answers.”
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