By JOHN LIKANJE
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – After the final buzzer sounded, East High senior forward Zechariah Harris-Scott immediately did three things: raise his arms to the sky, scream and, most importantly, dap up and hug his head coach, Darrell Barley.
It was a hug 367 days in the making as the Eagles completed one of their primary goals: go back to the Blue Cross for another crack at the block. Defeating the team that beat them in last year’s sectional final made the hug extra special as well. For the final 2:37 of the contest, Harris-Scott switched from power forward to point guard and guided his squad to a 61-55 semifinal win over the Pittsford Sutherland Knights.
After trailing by as many as 15 points early in the third quarter, the Knights staged a furious rally, capped off by a 9-1 run to cut their deficit to 53-52 and force an Eagles’ timeout. From there, Barley made his own adjustment: put the ball in the hands of his leading scorer for the past two seasons. The East High head coach knew his team had lost momentum and had to ride or die with his best player. Therefore, Harris-Scott ran the offense and brought the ball up for the rest of the game. The senior forward delivered, scoring seven of the Eagles’ last nine points of the contest.
“It felt good to me because I know I’m the best player on our team,” Harris-Scott said on running point. “I felt like I deserved the ball.”
“We’ve been doing it from time to time in practice,” Barley explained. “He’s been working on his ball-handling skills all summer. I just saw an opportunity this year for him to be more of a distributor and make plays for others as well as make plays from the outside and attack the rim.”
Harris-Scott’s first score as point guard was splitting a pair of free throws to extend the Eagles’ slim margin. Then, after getting a stop on the other end, the senior forward received the ball at the top of the key, bounced himself off the defender to create some space and swished a turnaround fadeaway.
Another video I forgot to tweet from the @PCSDSutherland vs. @GoEastEagles game: @ScottZechariah hit a turnaround fadeaway from the free throw line to extend the Eagles’ lead to 56-52 with a minute left. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/xrXeYKh16L
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) March 5, 2020
However, the Knights scrapped to stay within striking distance. Senior guard Ben DiGiovanni hit 1-of-2 foul shots and finished a putback to make it 58-55 with 20.2 seconds left. But Damani Barley and Harris-Scott combined for three makes from the charity stripe in the final 33 seconds to secure the victory. Harris-Scott swiped a steal and jammed down his lone dunk of the game for the cherry on top as well.
“That was a great feeling because after that, I knew the game was over,” Harris-Scott commented on his game-ending jam.
For the game, Harris-Scott scored 15 points, hauled in 14 boards and swatted four shots.
“Well, I think he’s the best player in Section V,” Barley proclaimed about his senior forward. “He stepped up, handled the ball well. He had some crucial free throws. He had some big time blocks and rebounds. That’s what it’s all about. That’s senior leadership.”
Kai McCullough sparked the Eagles to a 35-23 halftime lead with 12 points. The sophomore forward finished with a team-high 18 points and three long-range shots.
“Damani (Barley) did a good job in the first half feeding Kai, getting him the ball because he had the hot hand,” Coach Barley said. “I think Kai was great today. He shot the ball confidently. It was his time.”
“His impact helped us a lot,” Harris-Scott said about McCullough. “I saw it coming out off the gate. He was hitting jumpshots. He was being consistent with them. He kept shooting them.”
Damani Barley chipped in all 12 of his points in the second and fourth quarters and dished out eight assists. Clinique Jackson added nine points and nine rebounds. Kaori Barley had five points and three steals. Freddie Brock (2) rounded out the scoring for East, which forced 11 turnovers and 33 missed field goals in 58 possessions.
.@SecVBBasketball A2 Semifinals – @PCSDSutherland vs. @GoEastEagles: Forgot to tweet this in the 1st half. Damani Barley with the spin move and layup. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/iIj8D72jaL
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) March 5, 2020
For Pittsford Sutherland, Ben DiGiovanni poured in 19 of his game-high 21 points in the first, second and fourth stanzas combined. The senior guard made seven layups, including a breakaway dunk, two floaters and a mid-range jumper.
.@SecVBBasketball A2 Semifinals – @PCSDSutherland vs. @GoEastEagles: Ben DiGiovanni putback. 20.2 4Q: East 58 Pittsford Sutherland 55. @PickinSplinters pic.twitter.com/mUMRO63Wit
— John Mitchell Likanje Junior (@jml5798) March 5, 2020
Jaylyn Moorehead netted 14 of his 19 points in the second half, including nine in the third quarter. The sophomore guard knocked down four long-range shots as well. Drew Kull (4), Aiden Pellingrino (4), Jake Priesser (4) and Owen Flisnik (3) rounded out the scoring for Pittsford Sutherland.
East advances to its second straight sectional final and will match up with NE Douglass, which defeated Wayne, 71-68, in the other semifinal game. Tip off is scheduled for Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Blue Cross Arena.
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