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Streak Busters: East hits century mark, pulls away to beat SOTA

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Zechariah Harris-Scott scored 29 points in Wednesday’s win over School of the Arts (PHOTO: JOHN LIKANJE)

By JOHN LIKANJE

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The East Eagles posted a season-high for points scored in a game and snapped School of the Arts’ six-game win streak with a 108-90 victory, Wednesday night.

Leading 84-75 with five minutes left in the contest, the Eagles extended their advantage with a 14-5 run. Darrell Barley’s squad kept pouring it on and maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game.

Zechariah Harris-Scott scored seven points during the run on a right-corner three-pointer and a pair of layups, including a putback. Justus Ross-Simmons finished two layups and Kaori Barley connected on a long-range shot from the left wing.

“We should’ve been better,” Harris-Scott said. “We’re a way better team than SOTA. We decided it was time for the quits and stop playing around with them. Score the ball, play our normal game like we did versus Park and everybody else.”

“We just made more threes than they did,” Barley stated as his squad forced two missed field goals and a pair of turnovers in six possessions during the run. “I knew we were going to win the game, but we got to win in better fashion than that.”

The Eagles raced out to an 11-2 start and took a 39-16 lead early in the second quarter. After School of the Arts (SOTA) battled back with a 16-4 run to make it a single-digit contest, East finished the half with six straight points for a 56-42 advantage at intermission.

“I feel like they came out way more aggressive,” Harris-Scott explained when comparing Wednesday night’s game to the first matchup between the two teams earlier in the season. “Last time when we played them at (School No.) 33, they weren’t aggressive. They came out way more aggressive and I was okay with that.”

However, the Silverhawks stayed within striking distance, hitting four long-range shots in the third period to cut their deficit to 75-66. SOTA guard Ke’Vion Mitchell even knocked down a three-pointer to start the final stanza and made it a six-point game, the closest SOTA had gotten since the first quarter. But the Eagles outscored the Silverhawks, 33-21, the rest of the way.

“They took it to us,” Barley said. “We were playing street ball out there. They got every loose ball. We were up by 20 points and let them back in the game. We let them move wherever they wanted to move. We got to get tougher.”

Harris-Scott and Ross-Simmons led five players in double figures with 29 points apiece. Harris-Scott netted 22 in the second half, including 13 in the fourth quarter. The senior forward hit a pair of three-pointers as well.

“I’m just glad that my team did what they had to do,” Harris-Scott commented.

Ross-Simmons made 12 layups, including a pair of dunks. The sophomore forward crashed the glass and broke down the defense with drives to the basket. Ross-Simmons has scored double-digit points in 13 consecutive games as well.

“That’s a man-child,” Harris-Scott said about the sophomore forward. “That’s what I’ve been saying about Justus. I just live with what he does because I know he’s a special kid. He’s a D-1 player in both football and basketball.”

“Justus, he got rebounds and putbacks,” Barley said. “We’re supposed to dominate inside. I think their tallest man is six feet.”

Kaori Barley connected on six three-pointers for 18 points. Damani Barley scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half. Kai McCullough pitched in all 13 of his points in the first 16 minutes of game play. Xavier Roberts (3) and Korey Ellis (2) rounded out the scoring for East, which forced 22 turnovers and 40 missed field goals in 81 possessions.

For SOTA, Ethain Clarke-Desouza poured 22 of his game-high 35 points in the second half. The junior guard made 13 layups and 6-of-6 free throws.

Logan Hayes continued his hot shooting stretch with five three-pointers and 21 points. The senior guard has scored double-digit points in nine straight games, averaging 19.8 points over that span.

Mitchell scored all 17 of his points in the first, second and fourth quarters combined. Reggie Smith (9) and Keshaun Chatman (8) rounded out the scoring for SOTA, who hit 10 three-pointers as a team.

East (13-1) travels to McQuaid Friday night for a 7 p.m. tip off. SOTA (9-6) hosts Spencerport Friday at 6 p.m.

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