Pickin' Splinters

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Sutherland muscles past SOTA into sectional semifinals

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Ben DiGiovanni (No. 13 for Pittsford Sutherland) scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed eight boards in Saturday’s win. (PHOTO: JOHN LIKANJE)

By JOHN LIKANJE

ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Pittsford Sutherland Knights were in an unusual predicament: up three in a close game on the road with the home squad having one last chance to tie. They had two options: either intentionally foul to prevent a shot or play out the remaining 17.3 seconds.

However, the Knights were out of timeouts and, with no time to draw up a gameplan, decided on the latter. Fortunately, it worked out for John Nally’s squad as they forced a missed three-pointer, Ben DiGiovanni hauled in his eighth board and flung the rock to the other side of the court before being fouled. The buzzer sounded and the Knights celebrated a 50-47 grind-out win over School of the Arts.

“It was either foul with four seconds or we force a tough one,” DiGiovanni explained. “Once it hit four and he (Ke’Vion Mitchell) was looking like he was trapped and had to pass it, we decided we weren’t going to foul there. That’s just being mentally there and knowing what we wanted to do.”

“Without the timeout, we were trying to get matched up in man-to-man and we’ve talked about fouling in that situation to put them on the line,” Nally explained. “Without the timeout, at this level, that’s really hard to communicate. We were playing triangle-and-two.”

Trailing 43-42 with 4:18 left, DiGiovanni pulled up and swished a left-wing three-pointer to give the Knights a lead they would not relinquish. Jake Priesser made 3-of-4 foul shots for a 48-43 cushion – Sutherland’s largest of the game. The junior forward scored seven of the Knights’ 10 points in the final stanza.

“They were really good with the guard pressure,” Nally explained. “We talked about, all week, how they play behind that post and we got to be willing to give those post guys the touch. They were behind and frankly, Jake was the only guy open. So we had to be willing to go to him. We found him and he made big plays for us.”

The game featured six ties and 15 lead changes. School of the Arts led by as many as six points (twice) in the first half. Despite only making two long-range shots the entire game, the Knights’ size and matchup zone defense forced 13 turnovers and 32 missed field goals in 57 possessions. Nally’s squad did not allow a three-point make in the second half after giving up seven in the first 16 minutes and corralled 26 rebounds as well.

“Our size is huge,” DiGiovanni proclaimed. “All year, we’ve been working on getting in the paint. Getting our own rebounds. We miss a bunny, we get the board and finish it. Threes come when we want it. Today, we weren’t hitting them, so were just attacking the paint and it worked out in the end.”

“Defensively, all night, we got plenty of stops,” Nally said. “They hit a lot of threes in the first half. They shot it really well. 21 of their 26 points from three in total. We were okay with the number. We felt like we had a chance, coming out in the second half, to hold them under 50. That was the goal. We did it and that got us the W.

“Honestly, we felt like we just had to get out on it a little harder. But we didn’t adjust incredibly. In the end, it doesn’t really matter how they get them, but how many they get. Even though we were giving up some threes, we had only given up 26 points. It’s the quarterfinals of sectionals against a good team who scored a ton of points this year.”

DiGiovanni led the offense with a game-high 20 points. The senior guard made seven layups, including a fastbreak dunk in the second quarter, and 3-of-5 free throws.

“I want to go as far as I can in basketball,” DiGiovanni commented about his performance. “It’s a sport I love to play and I want to go hopefully get another block this year.”

“He comes down with such great pace,” Nally said about his senior guard. “At 6-foot-4, when you can see over the defense like that, at this level, that makes him really dangerous. He’s been our leader all year though. When we’ve been good, he’s been dominant like that. He leads us in every category. We lean on him a ton and he’s stepped up and grown.”

Garrett Glanton pitched in 10 of his 13 points in the first half. Priesser added 12 points. Owen Flisnik had two points and 10 boards. Drew Kull (3) rounded out the scoring for the Knights.

For School of the Arts, Ethain Clarke-DeSouza and Logan Hayes led with 11 points apiece. Hayes knocked down three shots from beyond the arc and Clarke-DeSouza two.

Keshaun Chatman and Ke’Vion Mitchell chipped in eight points each. Reggie Smith (6) and Loral Dillard (3) rounded out the scoring for the Silverhawks.

Pittsford Sutherland advances to the sectional semifinals for the third straight year. The Knights will match up with East High in a rematch of last season’s sectional final. Game is scheduled for Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at Gates-Chili High School. East defeated Wilson Magnet, 67-41, in the quarterfinals.

“They are coming into sectionals with a pretty similar record than they had last year,” Nally said. “Their guards are a year older, a year more mature, a year of more experience. They’re playing really solid. That’s going to be a tough cover.”

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