By JOHN LIKANJE
IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. – Pittsford Mendon locked down on the defensive end and used a balanced offense to cruise past East High, 59-31, in the Class A sectional semifinals.
The Lady Vikings created havoc by constantly switching between man-to-man and zone defense. The result was Todd Julien’s squad pressing the Lady Eagles into eating up a majority of the shot clock and holding them scoreless in the second quarter.
“Defense, in the beginning of the season, wasn’t a strength for this team,” Julien said as his team forced six turnovers and eight missed field goals in 14 possessions during the period. “We feel like it is now. We’re disciplined. We’re keeping kids in front of us and not giving up second shots. That’s our game.”
“Defense is something we’ve been really focusing on the past few weeks because we know that’s what we need to be good at in order to win these big games,” junior guard Lexi Green said. “That’s just putting what we’ve been practicing to work today.”
Green scored five of her game-high 22 points in the second stanza as Mendon shut out East, 16-0. The junior guard finished a pair of layups, including one for a three-point play. Katie Bischoping had a traditional three-point play of her own. Sabrina Engin, Bridget Miller and Danielle Strauf each made a basket while Anaya Coleman rounded out the scoring with a pair of foul shots. At intermission, the Lady Vikings had a commanding 32-9 advantage.
.@SecVGBasketball A Semifinals – @GoEastEagles vs. @mendonGVBB: Lexi Green finds Bridget Miller. Lady Vikings on a 18-0 run. 32.6 2Q: Pittsford Mendon 32 East 9. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/bVMdefCZ41
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) March 3, 2020
Mendon kept up the defensive pressure in the third quarter, holding East to seven points while forcing four missed shots and seven turnovers in 15 possessions.
Green made seven layups and a pair of three-pointers as part of her performance.
“It’s just what’s there for my team,” the junior guard commented. “If the shot’s there, I’m gonna take it. It just happened to work out that way.”
“Lexi’s been playing like tonight for the last third of the season,” Julien said about Green. “She’s really emerged now as a leader by the way she plays. That’s really kind of taken us to another level.”
Bischoping contributed 14 points. Strauf (7), Miller (6), Coleman (5), Engin (2), Ellen Henry (2) and Sydney Gordon (1) rounded out the scoring for Mendon. Pittsford Mendon has now won 11 consecutive games, averaging 68.9 points and holding opponents to 35.5.
For East, Xandria Flanders led with 15 points, four steals, two rebounds and two assists. Shariona Blocker added 10 points, five boards, three steals and an assist. Diamond Pickett chipped in one point, eight rebounds and a steal.
Jaylen Giles (2), MaKayla McCorker (2) and Imani Oliver (1) rounded out the scoring for East.
Pittsford Mendon advances to its fourth straight sectional final. The Lady Vikings will match up with Irondequoit, which defeated Canandaigua, 45-35, in the other semifinal game.
“This was a great win,” Green said. “It feels great to be able to get back there and keep improving the program. This game was a great game for us. We played incredible as a team. It’s just exciting to see what we’re going to do next.”
“You know, in high school basketball, in my mind, there’s no such thing as a repeat,” Julien said of advancing to four straight sectional finals. “This team is a standalone entity that we’re working on. We’ve done a lot of successful stuff. But it’s always been with different kids. Different leadership.
“I’m happy for this group of kids. I’m really happy that we made it to another final and we’ll see if we can get another one.”
Tip off is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. at Gates-Chili High School.
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