By JOHN LIKANJE
HENRIETTA, N.Y. – Chris Reed wasn’t worried about being upset in the first round again. Despite his team grasping a three-point lead at halftime, the Rush-Henrietta head coach was optimistic.
“At the end of the half, we lost their shooters on like two, three straight possessions,” Reed explained. “I think we stole the ball and we had a layup blocked that would’ve been two for us. And they came down and hit a three off that.
“We just reminded them what the plan was at halftime and who to double and when to double. We did a much better job of that.”
The Royal Comets erased any doubt of a possible upset with a strong third quarter and cruised to an 81-52 victory over Bishop Kearney, Tuesday night.
Jevonte Williams netted nine of his game-high 26 points in the period as Rush-Henrietta outscored Bishop Kearney, 21-4. The senior guard scored seven straight points as well on a layup, mid-range jumper and a long-range shot from the right wing.
“My teammates take the pressure off me a little bit when they were hitting shots, so it just opened up the floor for me,” Williams commented.
“He’s got good size for a guard,” Reed said about Williams. “He’s like 6’2, close to 6’3. Not only is he a good shooter and can attack the basket, but he can finish over bigs. Some of those finishes were not easy. Jevonte made some terrific finishes in the third quarter.”
Christoper Sleeper made a pair of layups, including one as part of a three-point play. Eddie Beverly and Mason Giorgione made back-to-back jumpers and Nyles Goodwin finished inside on the feed from Charles Bowden III to round out the scoring in the third quarter.
“When they went man, we wanted to run action and make them guard,” Reed explained as his squad didn’t allow a made field goal in 14 possessions during the stanza. “Run them through down screens and flex screens and things like that. When we did, we got open shots.
“When they went zone, we wanted to make sure we touched the ball in the middle or the baseline before we shot. What we did sometimes was slide Jevonte to the middle and that was very effective.”
The Royal Comets forced five turnovers and 10 missed field goals in the third quarter as well.
“We just kind of refocused and we didn’t leave their shooters open in the third quarter,” Reed said. “We helped real well in the post. Both our bigs played pretty well defensively on the boards because they’re bigger than us. We did not want to play great defense and give up second shots. We just really tightened up and it showed.”
Giorgione complemented Williams’ game-high performance with 11 points. Goodwin (9), Sleeper (9), Beverly (7), Bowden (6), Patrick Sherron (3), RJ Williams (3), Jalen House (2), CJ Thomas (2), Gabriel Wright (2) and Nasir Hunter (1) rounded out the scoring for the Royal Comets.
.@SecVBBasketball AA First Round – @KearneyBoys vs. @RHBoysVarsityBB: Christopher Sleeper fakes out the entire Kings defense. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/ToQwFio42B
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) February 26, 2020
For Bishop Kearney, Michael Gentile scored eight points during a 15-4 run in the last four and a half minutes of the second quarter. The senior guard netted a pair of foul shots and two long-range bombs. Miles Monchecourt hit a free throw line jumper and a layup. Deiontray Dixon nailed a left-corner three-pointer as the Kings forced two turnovers and seven missed field goals during the run.
For the game, Gentile scored 11 points in each half to finish with a team-high 22. The senior guard made six of his eight shots from inside the arc and 4-of-6 free throws as well.
Monchecourt pitched in 14 points off the bench. Dixon (9), Antwan Williams (3), Quentin Evans (2) and Miles Rose (2) rounded out the scoring for the Kings.
.@SecVBBasketball AA First Round – @KearneyBoys vs. @RHBoysVarsityBB: Antwan Williams gets to the hole. End of 1: Rush-Henrietta 22 Bishop Kearney 15. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/IEsF8khxhR
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) February 26, 2020
Rush-Henrietta will match up with Edison Tech in the sectional quarterfinals Friday at 7 p.m. The Royal Comets are looking to avenge last year’s first round defeat to the Inventors.
“Edison is a team that got some quality wins,” Reed said. “They’re playing a lot, lot better. We know just what it is.”
Edison Tech defeated Hilton, 52-46, in a first-round sectional matchup, Tuesday night, at Hilton High School.
Leave a Reply