Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

McCorker and East girls move on to the semis

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By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — When it mattered most, the East High girls basketball team found its defensive mojo.

Trailing by three after three quarters of play, the Eagles limited Aquinas to just two field goals during the fourth quarter including just one bucket over the final four minutes.

“They wanted to play defense,” second-year head coach Tim Jackson said after his visiting Eagles downed Aquinas, 44-35 in Class A girls’ quarter-final action Saturday afternoon.  “I’ve said this all along. We’ve got the kids. We’ve got the athletes. It’s them. It’s not me. I’ve told them ‘I can put you in positions, but I can’t make these plays. I can’t make the rotations. I can’t dive on the floor.’ It was up to them. I can give them a game plan, but they got to execute it.”

Makayla McCorker scored seven of her game-high 24 points over the final eight minutes to help East advance to Tuesday’s semi-final.

“I came with a different mindset in this game because I don’t want it to stop here,” she said. “Everybody was expecting them to go on to the next round. We wanted to show everybody something different. We can play with these teams, definitely. So that’s what we’re doing.”

The junior forward finished on a pass from teammate Shariona Blocker. Her next bucket gave the Eagles a 33-30 lead. She converted five free throws in the game’s final minute to seal the victory.

After committing six turnovers during the first 10 possessions of the second quarter, the Eagles settled in and had just one miscue over the final five minutes of the contest.

“The last few minutes we stayed disciplined,” McCorker said. “Coach told us ‘don’t let them get a shot off.’ That’s what we were doing. They got a couple, but they weren’t going in. We kept that pressure on them.

“We slowed it down. You got to slow down and play at our speed, not their speed. They wanted us to go fast, so we slowed it down.”

East held Aquinas, averaging more than 62 points per game, to their second-lowest offensive output of the season.

“If we can play D like that, we could be in most games,” Jackson said. “We had a couple defensive lapses which always concerns me. In a closer game that might have mattered. We’ll clean that up.

“I’m happy. This is enjoyable just because these kids really want it. Sometimes I don’t know if they understand how to get there. I’m asking them every day. They got to trust me. We’ll see how it goes from here. Not satisfied, but I’m happy.”

McCorker took a Blocker pass and hit a free-throw line jumper to give East its first lead of the game at 6-4. The Eagles pushed that advantage to six when McCorker found Diamond Pickett inside for two and a 15-9 lead.

East went into the locker room at halftime up 17-14.

Aquinas rallied early in the third quarter. A Sienna Hinchcliffe bucket gave the Li’l Irish an 18-17 edge. The lead changed hands three times over the final five minutes of the third quarter.

Blocker converted a rebound and putback to give East a lead it did not surrender at 28-27.

The two teams met in November, a game that East won 49-48.

“They came back harder,” McCorker said of Aquinas. “I knew that we were going to come harder because that was our first game of the season.

“It was go hard or go home. We came with that intensity, and we came out on top.”

Blocker finished with 14 points. Pickett added seven. Xandria Flanders hit a free throw.

McCorker hauled in 19 rebounds and handed out three assists.

Julie Sonricker paced Aquinas with 12 points. Chanel Alexander added 10 points. Lydia Kaplun scored five points. Hinchcliffe contributed four. Sophia Hartman (2) and Amaris Watts (1) rounded out the scoring for Aquinas (17-5). The Li’l Irish had won 10 of 11 entering the contest.

East (12-10) will play reigning champion Pittsford Mendon in Tuesday’s semi-final.

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