BY PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Patrick Lustyk wasn’t born the last time the Honeoye Falls-Lima boys’ basketball team reached the finals. On Thursday night, the senior guard made sure that trend was halted.
Lustyk finished with a game-high 29 points and a stingy HF-L defense put the clamps on Eastridge in a 58-40 victory.
“We knew we were supposed to be here,” Lustyk said. “Coming into the game, we knew it was going to be defense. It was a whole defensive night.”
Clinging to a three-point edge at halftime, HF-L opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run. The Cougars extended the lead to double digits less than six minutes into the stanza and did not allow Eastridge any closer.
“We held them to one shot,” Lustyk said referring HF-Ls work on the defensive boards. “We played smart, played together and trusted each other.”
Josh Vogt opened the decisive quarter with a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Next trip down the floor, Lustyk found the measure from nearly the same spot. Two possessions later, Reece Joint added a triple of his own.
Eastridge called its second timeout of the half with 5:19 remaining in the quarter, but there no stopping HF-L.
Three possessions later, Mason Wanzenried drilled a pull-up jumper on the break for a 38-28 HF-L lead. Joint extended the lead with a baseline jumper next time down the floor.
Reece Joint takes advantage of a second chance @HFLCSDAthletics 40-28 pic.twitter.com/O06UDdpu9C
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 12, 2021
“I’m so happy for the kids,” HF-L head coach Kevin Neenan said. “They worked their tails off all year, and we’re just so happy to execute a season. That was the biggest thing.”
Patrick Lustyk has 24 including this 3 on the break. @HFLCSDAthletics 43-29 late in the 3rd. pic.twitter.com/4ZhHBuswGm
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 12, 2021
At the other end of floor, HF-L’s defense was putting together a performance that held Eastridge more than 24 points under its season average. During a nearly 10-minute stretch that extended into the fourth quarter, the Cougars limited Eastridge to one field goal while forcing six turnovers during that same span of time.
Sophomore forward Nolan Smith was tasked with the job of shadowing Eastridge big man Caquan Wester.
“We had a lot of trust all around,” Smith said “That really helps with playing team defense especially with a fast team like Eastridge.”
Wester scored 19 points in Eastridge’s victory over School of the Arts in Tuesday’s quarter-final matchup. On Thursday, the 6-foot-6 forward connected just three times from the floor and finished with eight points.
Smith played behind in the post and didn’t allow Wester any space to move after catching the ball. At the same time, his teammates collapsed to the ball out of a 2-3 zone and limited Wester’s movements.
“When we went to the 2-3 zone, we were flying all over the place,” Lustyk said.
Patrick Lustyk connects from distance @HFLCSDAthletics 17-24 pic.twitter.com/G1HgBpdVGf
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 12, 2021
HF-L’s defense also kept crafty Eastridge point guard Emmanuel Leftenant in check during the second half. The sophomore guard scored 12 over the first 16 minutes of play but finished the game with just 17 points.
“We knew if Wester caught the ball in the middle, we were going to get two, three guys around him,” Lustyk explained. “If he kicked it out to Leftenant, we were going to have our top two swing up there, and that’s what we did.”
Eastridge, the reigning Section V Class A1 champions, came into the game winners of five straight and had been scoring better than 70 points per game during that streak.
“They are a very dangerous team,” Neenan said. “They got a couple guards who can go and the big man.”
Emmanuel Leftenant goes with the hesi to get in the lane for the and-one, but @EastridgeHoops trails 13-6. pic.twitter.com/HJlb12JnGH
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 12, 2021
The Monroe County Division IV rivals split a pair of regular season games with Eastridge taking the most recent decision 59-56 on March 4th.
“The biggest thing is our defense is continuing to get better,” Neenan added. “They’re much more athletic than us. They’re a very good team. We just had to do our job of making sure we gave them one shot. I thought we did a much better job on the boards.”
The Cougars will play in Saturday’s Class A2 final, something the HF-L boys’ program hasn’t done since 1999.
“We knew had a good group coming back,” Neenan stated. “We’re doing a better job trusting each other, helping each other. That’s the thing we’ve been trying to get. Last year, this group was pretty good offensively. Defense was the thing we talked about in the beginning of the year, and we’re starting to hang our hats on that now.
“We’re going to come in and play East and we’re just going to have to try to play our game. We know they’re good. We know they’re very good.”
Scoring totals
Honeoye Falls-Lima: Josh Vogt (9), Nolan Smith (8), Reece Joint (7) and Mason Wanzenried (5).
Eastridge: Mykael Miller (5), Emmanuel Torres (4), Hector Jimenez III (3) and Cordell Young (3).
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