By JOHN LIKANJE
BLOOMFIELD, N.Y. – In the waning seconds of the third quarter, Mitchel Hockey received the ball in the back court and had to make something out of nothing. So he did. The sophomore guard took four quick dribbles to the logo, pulled up and heaved the rock toward the basket. The ball found the back of the net and ignited the crowd as the bucket cut Perry’s deficit to 41-40 going into the final stanza.
That shot was the epitome of the Yellowjackets’ second half as they drained buckets from all over the court in the final 16 minutes en route to a 63-56 victory over Alexander.
“We just grinded it out,” Hockey said. “We just never gave up. We didn’t hold our heads. We started hitting shots and we got all the momentum and it just took off from there. They just couldn’t stop us.”
Hockey hit another three early in the fourth quarter to give Perry a 43-41 lead it did not relinquish. It was also part of a 15-2 run in which Carson DeVinney made back-to-back shots, Michael Hockey nailed a right-wing three-pointer and Michael John Grover finished a contact layup. In the span of three minutes, the Yellowjackets had taken a 52-43 advantage after trailing by 10 points at intermission.
“I told them, first of all, don’t panic,” Perry head coach Anthony Macaluso explained as his squad forced a turnover and three missed field goals in five possessions during the run. “A lot of times, when teams get down 10 in an environment like this, they tend to panic. They start to not do the things they’ve been taught to do all year. So that was number one.
“And number two was that we just had to get out on their shooters. I thought we actually did play defense pretty well in the first half. They were just hitting a lot of shots. We kept switching up to man and zone and I thought that was a big reason we were able to kind of create some confusion on the defensive end for the other team.”
.@SecVBBasketball C2 Semifinals – @Alex_Schools vs. @PerryCSD1: Mitchel Hockey from the logo! End of 3: Alexander 41 Perry 40. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/UvRdMFYD7A
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) March 3, 2020
Later in the stanza, Mitchel Hockey and Grover connected on back-to-back long-range shots for a 60-48 lead. Despite Alexander’s attempt to extend the game with intentional fouls, Hockey made a pair of free throws with 45.3 seconds left to secure the comeback victory.
“We picked up the pace in the second half and started moving the ball more and just created open shots and we were knocking them down,” Hockey explained. “We can knock down our open shots when we move the ball, so we were hitting tonight.”
Hockey led with a game-high 19 points and five three-pointers. The sophomore guard netted 16 points in the second half as Perry outscored Alexander, 43-26.
“I can hit some crazy shots and they were all just falling tonight,” Hockey commented on his performance.
“Being just a sophomore, he’s one of the best leaders on our team,” Macaluso said about Hockey. “He’s just tough. If he misses a few, it doesn’t rattle him. He’s the guy who has to handle the ball for us the majority of the game.”
Grover scored 12 of his 18 points in the final 16 minutes of game play, including seven in the fourth quarter. Michael Hockey made three long-range shots as part of his 13-point night. DeVinney pitched in 11 points. Garrett McClurg (2) rounded out the scoring for the Yellowjackets, who made 16 field goals in the second half compared to seven in the first. Perry knocked down 10 shots from beyond the arc as well.
“I thought, in the first half, it was kind of just a lot of passing the ball around the perimeter and lot of stand-still threes,” Macaluso said. “Where, in the second half, I thought we were cutting and getting looks inside and we would get some inside-out game, which was able to get our shooters in rhythm a little bit more than in the second half.”
For Alexander, Bryce Davis muscled his way to 16 points. The senior center made six layups and two mid-range jumpers. Carson Wright knocked down five three-pointers for 15 points.
Dylan Busch (6), Kameron Lyons (5), Tyrone Woods, Jr. (4), Devon Dean (3), Nick Kramer (3) and Jay Morrison (2) rounded out the scoring for the Trojans, who raced out to an 8-1 start and led by 12 points midway through the second quarter.
.@SecVBBasketball C2 Semifinals – @Alex_Schools vs. @PerryCSD1: Nick Kramer right corner pocket. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/8Ym5iVjBzW
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) March 3, 2020
Perry advances to the sectional final for the fourth time in five years. The Yellowjackets will match up with the two-time defending champions, Lyons, which defeated Geneseo in the other semifinal game. Tip off is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at the Blue Cross Arena.
“They’re obviously a very fast team,” Macaluso said about Lyons. “I think a big thing is going to be not letting them get easy baskets in transition. I think these guys are hungry and what they’ve done a good job of all season is preparing for teams as they come up.”
“We just got to outwork them,” Hockey said. “It just comes down to that. We’re both two hustling teams and we need to grind and play great defense. We can get it done for sure.”
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