Hilton gets bounce back effort in win over Fairport

By PAUL GOTHAM

HILTON, N.Y. — It was the fifth possession of the third quarter. Hilton’s Tah’Jae Hill saved a ball from going over the end line. As the 6-foot-2 guard teetered on his right foot, he saw teammate Mitch Carr  and flipped a pass to the left corner. Carr caught the ball cleanly and kept the orange globe moving to Noah Malta at the top of the key. Without hesitation, Malta swung the ball to the opposite side of the floor where Colin Burkis stepped into a shot from foul-line extended.

Four players moving in concert as if following a conductor’s baton. Three passes, three clean catches resulting in that sweetest of sounds: leather whipping twine and the subsequent home crowd roar.

One play doesn’t make a game, but if a sequence can represent a unit showing its resiliency then that was it.

Consider that 48 hours prior, Hilton walked off the court at Gates-Chili High School shouldering a 77-68 loss to the Spartans. Victimized by a 2-2-1 three-quarter court press, the Cadets surrendered the last 11 points of the contest for their second loss in three games.

Friday night, Troy Prince’s Cadets took the court against the Fairiport Red Raiders who have won or shared the past six Monroe County Division I titles.  Not exactly the most inviting opponent for a team looking to recapture its rhythm.

But there it was for the taking Friday night.

Carr didn’t hit the panic button when he received Hill’s pass. The senior gathered the ball in triple threat. A quick shot might have been understandable. The same could be said for Malta. Both players had clean looks at the rim. Both knew Burkis had a better sight line. The ball moved with such pace around the horn that it was as if no hands had touched it.

“For them to just show up and have the effort is huge after a loss, after not a lot of sleep with finals coming up,” Prince said of his squad’s 65-51 victory over Fairport. “I couldn’t be prouder. To find that. I think that starts with some senior leadership.”

Hill scored 27 in the win. Carr added 16.

 

Tahj Hill. Mitch Carr. Hurt. Harm. End 3rd: @Hiltonhoops 44 @FCSDSports 30 pic.twitter.com/pQUNvVsncZ

— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 19, 2019

Those numbers seem secondary to what Hilton did on the defensive end of the floor. The Cadets held Faiport (averaging nearly 65 points per game) to their second lowest output of the season.

“You can always count on Fairport’s intensity,” Prince commented. “I thought we got out-toughed a little by Gates. I challenged our guys to make sure that one, you try to execute a scouting report and you front the post a lot. And you out-tough them with block outs, with loose balls. I thought our guys rose to the challenge.”

They did more than that. In outscoring Fairport 20-3 in the second quarter, Hilton held the Red Raiders without a field goal. The Cadets forced five missed shots and four turnovers during the eight-minute span. Fairport converted on three of four free throw attempts.

 

Noah Malta finds Mitch Carr cutting through the lane. @Hiltonhoops 41 @FCSDSports 26 pic.twitter.com/ZhkLkSaKRB

— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 19, 2019

“We did what coach told us to do,” Hill said. “Most importantly, we got stops. We held them to one shot. We got on the rebounds. We knew how important rebounds are against a great Fairport team.”

Hilton took a 32-14 lead into halftime.

“It can happen to anybody,” Prince said of Fairport’s second quarter. “It can happen to us with a phenomenal scorer when you’re just out of rhythm. I will credit our defense. I think we did a pretty good job of taking some things away. When you get that, you got to get some lucky bounces and some guys missing bunnies that they wouldn’t (normally miss). I’ll take it for sure, but you got to be lucky.”

Twice in the second half Fairport cut the Hilton lead to single digits. Ryan Lucey connected from behind the arc to make it a 48-39 game with 5:37 remaining. Three minutes later, Andre Starks hit from long range to pull the Red Raiders within seven at 54-47.

Both times the Cadets (9-2) responded on the very next possession.

Coming out of timeout, Carr connected on a free-throw line jumper to make 50-39. Hill went the length of the floor for an and-one and 57-47 double-digit advantage that the Cadets did not surrender.

“We noticed on Wednesday that we weren’t playing our best,” Carr said. “We had to put it all together to actually beat a good team. I feel like we just kinda walked in there (Wednesday night against Gates-Chili) and tried to play, but we weren’t playing hard. Tonight we were focused, and all giving 100 percent.”

Burkis finished with nine points for the night. Najier Daniels added six. Ryan Kurtz scored four, and Jack Gombatto added three.

 

Vanzell Johnson finds the measure on a pull-up jumper. End 1st: @Hiltonhoops 12 @FCSDSports 11 pic.twitter.com/U7dC26sAPp

— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 19, 2019

Starks paced Fairport (9-4) with 14 points. Lucey and Vanzell Johnson scored 13 apiece. Stefan Milinkovic added nine points, and Max Molisani had two. Fairport had won three straight coming into the contest.