By BILLY HEYEN
VICTOR, N.Y. — Victor led on only two occasions in regulation, once in the first quarter and once in the fourth quarter, both by a single point. But the Blue Devils did enough to get the game to overtime, to get what head coach Tyler Roberts called “another opportunity.” They didn’t waste it.
Chase Dickens nailed a 3-pointer to open overtime off a feed from CJ James. Then senior point guard Matt Caggiano drained from the right wing to take a sudden six-point lead. As Caggiano backed up down the floor, he reached behind his head for an imaginary arrow and pantomimed firing it with a bow.
“Packed gym, good atmosphere, it was kind of just in the moment,” Caggiano said of his celebration as he laughed about it postgame.
Top-seeded Victor didn’t look back in overtime and held on for a 64-57 win over nine-seed Fairport on Friday night in the Section V Class AA quarterfinals. The Blue Devils move on to face McQuaid in the semifinals. Four Victor players scored in double figures in the win — Caggiano with 17, James with 14, Connor Williams with 14 and Dickens with 11. That balanced effort was enough to escape Fairport’s upset bid and move on.
“Fairport’s so good at team defense that we needed to make them guard every piece of wood on the court,” Roberts said. “I think we did that in the second half.”
These teams had played twice in the regular season, both Victor wins. A first-round victory on the road had Fairport entering Friday night with hope of avenging those defeats, though. For most of Friday’s game, it looked like the Red Raiders would do just that.
They sent double and triple teams toward the 7-footer Williams on the block, and for the most part, Victor missed its early shots off kick-outs (and struggled to convert at the line, too). That, coupled with 10 of Ryan Lucey’s 21 points, gave Fairport a seven-point edge heading to the locker room.
And-1 for Ryan Lucey, and @FCSDSports has a 25-16 lead with 1:31 to half. Lucey has 10. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/3Nx3g9uCwU
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) February 29, 2020
Victor hadn’t been in a trailing situation very often all season. The Blue Devils lost their final regular season game to Hilton, but before that, they were 19-0. Comebacks hadn’t frequently been in the cards.
“Staying together, and we just had to persevere through those runs,” Caggiano said of the approach while trailing.
Caggiano is the lone senior starter for Victor. If the Blue Devils had been unable to comeback Friday, it would’ve ended his high school career. The lefty point guard knew during halftime that he didn’t want that.
So Caggiano came out firing, nearly immediately draining a 3-pointer from the right corner for the second half’s first bucket. He made three foul shots in the third, too, and then to start the fourth, he stepped back on the right wing for what James said postgame was a “crazy” shot.
“We didn’t want it to be our last one,” Caggiano said. “I really love playing with these guys, and we wanted to go to the Blue Cross. So we had to get it done.”
TOUGH stepback from @mattcagg, who doesn’t want his career to end tonight. @victorbldevils @victorboysbball timeout, trailing Fairport 44-39 with 4:56 to play. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/BmDLz6vGsy
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) February 29, 2020
Midway through the fourth, Caggiano recognized a mismatch for James on the block, so with the game on the line, the Blue Devils went to the transfer from Greece Olympia on multiple trips down the floor. First, James flipped in a righty hook to pull within two with about two and a half minutes to play.
Stefan Milinkovic scored at the other end for Fairport to go up four, then Williams answered to pull back within two. A full-extension block by Victor’s Phil Nwugwo on a corner jumper kept it a one-possession game. That set up a high-low feed from Williams to James, who finished off glass through contact.
The possession before CJ James gave @victorboysbball a temporary lead near the end of regulation, Phil Nwugwo had his clutch block and save in the corner. @victorbldevils @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/z8uFb9WWDQ
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) February 29, 2020
James had struggled at the line the whole game, as had most of Victor. Afterward, he laughed about the need to “work on that.” The only reason James could laugh afterward, though, was because he completed that three-point play to go up one. Lucey hit one foul shot to send the game to overtime.
“He got a couple matchups down low,” Caggiano said. “… He made some tough shots down there, too.”
And1 for @Collinjames24. 49-48 @victorbldevils with 1:01 to play. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/DIHRdsnJmI
— Billy Heyen (@BillyHeyen) February 29, 2020
Victor seized the chance at new life in the extra four minutes. After Dickens and Caggiano both nailed triples, Dickens hit two foul shots to go up eight. Then Fairport’s final hope disappeared a few minutes later when Caggiano broke free of an attempted foul attempt for a layup, which was immediately followed by Victor’s Will Stone jumping a passing lane and taking it in for another layup to go up nine and clinch the ballgame.
“We weren’t making as many shots from the perimeter, but we knew the next one was gonna fall,” Caggiano said. “In overtime, they fell.”
The Blue Devils’ motto all season has been two words: “Next game.” It’s made its way onto Twitter as a hashtag, too, #nextgame. And those were the two words Roberts emphasized at the conclusion of his postgame remarks.
But there’ll be something different about Tuesday night for Victor: #nextgame will take place in Blue Cross Arena with a chance to reach the sectional finals.
“We haven’t been to the Blue Cross in a while,” Caggiano said. “We’re excited to go there and look to win a sectional championship.”
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