Pickin' Splinters

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East rides third-quarter run to victory at BK Showcase

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Kaori Barley (2) led an East defense which forced five turnovers during a decisive 19-0 run. (Photo: SUE KANE)

By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The threat of playing time or lack thereof can be a valuable tool. The starting five of the East High boys’ basketball got the message early in the third quarter of Saturday afternoon’s non-league matchup.

Clinging to a one-point lead, the Eagles rattled off 19 straight points, a stretch in which they did not allow a point for 11 consecutive possessions.

“Defense, that’s really what it was,” game MVP Zechariah Harris-Scott said after East’s 67-43 victory over Randolph (VI) as part of the 2019 Bishop Kearney Christmas Showcase.  “Coach wanted us to lock down and play defense. We took that seriously. That’s what it was. Lock down our man, don’t let him score.”

The Eagles forced five turnovers during the run and another five more mishandles early in the fourth as the one-point edge swelled past 20.

“If they score, you come out,” Harris-Scott said of team expectations. “Nobody wanted to come out. If you don’t slide them feet. If you don’t sit down and lock up, you’re coming out of the game. That’s all the game is about. It’s about defense.”

East outscored Randolph 19-8 in the quarter.

“We pulled out our press out in the second half,” East High head coach Darrell Barley explained.  “First half we wanted to work on the man-to-man and give them a different look in the second half.”

Harris-Scott netted 10 of his game-high 27 points in the stanza.

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The 6-foot-6-inch senior forward started the run with a 3-pointer. He followed with a tap-in and then a rebound and putback. His traditional 3-point play gave East (No. 7 NYSSWA Class A) a 41-26 advantage.

“Zack really stepped up today,” Barley noted. “Last two games he didn’t have Zechariah Harris-Scott games. Today he really showed up and led us.”

“My teammates were getting me in the game,” Harris-Scott said. “They knew I was hot, so they just kept giving it to me. It worked out in our favor.”

East held Randolph’s leading scorer, Tyler Hind, to six points through the first three quarters and 11 for the game.

Justus Ross-Simmons finishes two of his 14 points. (Photo: SUE KANE)

Barley pointed to the play of his son Kaori in slowing the opponent’s top threat.

“Kaori did a good job on Hind. He’s a great shooter. He might have knocked down 10 in a row when we were watching during warmups. Kaori knew you got to tire him out and take away his legs and that he eventually would succumb to that type of pressure.”

East opened the game on an 8-0 spurt.

Harris-Scott took a Justus Ross-Simmons dish off on the game’s first possession and finished at the rim to give East a lead it did not surrender. Kaori Barley followed with a wing triple. Kai McCullough converted a rebound and putback.

The Eagles grabbed their first double-digit advantage of the game when Harris-Scott finished a putback for an 18-8 lead midway through the second quarter.

Randolph scored on three of their first five possession of the third quarter. Ty Rosengren’s 3-pointer cut East’s lead to one at 27-26.

East (8-0) responded with the decisive run.

Ross-Simmons finished with 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the game. McCullough had 16 points, six rebounds and three steals. Damani Barley added five points and six assists. Kaori Barley chipped in with three points.

Kaleb Steward and Branson Morrison had nine apiece for Randolph. Gabe McCoy scored eight, and Rosengren six points.

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