By PAUL GOTHAM
WEBSTER, N.Y. — Penfield boys’ basketball coach Jason Ellis is a fan of the Buffalo Bills, but he doesn’t mind that his team possesses the mental approach of Bill Belichik’s New England Patriots.
And the Penfield Patriots play defense like the New York Giants circa 1990 when Belichick was the coordinator for a pair of Big Blue Super Bowl champions.
RJ Green finished with a career-high 19 points, and Dyllon Scott posted his fourth double-double of the season as Penfield beat host Webster Thomas, 59-45 Wednesday night.
“We’re just constantly going out there and being gritty,” said Green after Penfield improved to 4-0 on the season with the win. “It’s heart. It’s honestly heart. Every time we come out, we put in our mind that we’re going to stop you.”
Green connected seven times from the floor for the night and accounted for six points in the fourth quarter when the Patriots closed the game on a 15-5 run.
“I was getting fed by teammates,” the senior forward added. “I was attacking. I was going strong. It definitely felt like it was a little easier this game with the pressure. After the first three games, I knew we had something good coming from this team.”
Scott finished with 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
“Dyllon is a 20-point plus scorer a night if you’re going to play him straight up,” Ellis explained. “The minute a team as good as Webster decides to focus on him, Dyllon is as selfless as they come.
“He had three or four assists down the stretch that we’re huge. I bet you he’s responsible for 30-something out of a 50-point game.”
Scott and Matt Gable scored four points apiece in the first quarter when the Patriots jumped to a 16-11 lead.
Thomas cut the deficit to two at 20-18 when Andrew Mason connected in the lane.
It was as close as the Titans would get for the remainder of the contest.
“Our mentality is we know we’re going to get punched in the face,” Ellis said metaphorically. “If you’re going to win a fight, you got to take the punches. Then when they’re not ready, you throw the better.”
Ryan Wilkins responded with a deep 3-pointer. Gable finished in the paint, and Green added one of his buckets for a 27-21 advantage going into halftime.
Penfield extended the lead to 13 at 39-26 early in the third quarter when Dan Vercruysse scored and Green converted one of two from the free throw line.
Evan Mitchell converted a pair of rebound and putbacks for the Titans. Dannie Palmer hit a pair from the charity stripe as Thomas pulled within four, four possessions into the fourth quarter.
But Penfield was too much.
“These are kids that understand,” Ellis said of his group. “They work really hard in practice. They execute, and they have a lot of fun. We got a group of guys that just love playing basketball together.”
Penfield held Thomas, which came into the contest averaging 76.8 points per game, to a season-low output. That’s been a theme for the Patriots which also limited Fairport (41 points) and Rush-Henrietta (49) to season lows.
“Our focus every night is defense,” Scott said. “If we go out there and play defense, we’re going to win because offense will take care of itself. Every practice, every game we focus on defense.”
The Patriots have held opponents to 48.8 points per game.
“They don’t care how much you score. Their goal right now is like Bill Belichik; it kills me to say it,” Ellis said echoing the Patriots head coach who puts the emphasis on his entire defensive unit rather than an individual. “If they score on us, it doesn’t matter who they scored on. They scored on Penfield. We try to not let that happen.”
Gable finished with eight points. Vercruysse had seven. Wilkins chipped in with six points while Ryan Ethan Fici had four and Ryan Wensley two points.
Palmer led Thomas with 15 points. Mason and Jackson Kulik scored 10 apiece. Mitchell had eight , and Tyler Williams two points.
Leave a Reply