Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Balanced Arcadia rolls to third win

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By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Zach Keller wondered how his Greece Arcadia boys’ basketball team would respond to a pair of season-opening wins.

The fourth-year coach didn’t have to wait long for an answer.

Keller’s Titans produced points on five of their first six possessions Thursday night, grabbed an early double-digit lead and cruised to a 72-47 victory over School of the Arts (SOTA) in non-league action.

“We had to come out and make sure that we backed up what we did over the weekend and continue to try to build on that,” Keller said. “They came out and they executed the game plan really well.”

Gabe Taylor started the scoring with an assist from Vinnie Cacia. Cacia found the twine next trip down the floor. Mike Bolger followed with a corner three. One possession later, Dana Bolger hit a leaner in the lane and Mike Bolger buried his second three in as many tries.

Less than three minutes of game time had elapsed, and Arcadia had a two-possession lead.

The Titans finished the stanza with a flurry. Mike Bolger nailed his third three of the quarter. Taylor took a length of the court pass from Brian Shonitsky, the quarterback of the school’s football team, and finished at the rim.  Cacia capped the period with the Titans fifth 3-pointer in the quarter.

“We want to be able to get up and down the floor and stretch the defense,” Keller said. “It’s nice to have the guys who complement each other and really look for each other. They’re making the extra pass. It’s fun to watch.”

When it was over five different players finished in double figures. Taylor led the way with 21. Cousins Dana and Mike Bolger combined for 24 points. Dana scored 10. Mike accounted for 14. Cacia also tallied 14, and Latrell Rowe added 10.

“We don’t have one guy. We don’t have a star. We know that we do it by committee. We think it makes us very difficult to defend because on any given night, any one of those five guys can really go off.”

SOTA had its run.

Trailing 35-18, Tyree Moore connected along the baseline. Fred Bryant converted a steal and layup. Keshaun Chatman slipped ahead of the defense and Moore hit him with a pass for a layup and two more points. Bryant scored another bucket, and Chatman hit a jumper to close the half. SOTA had cut the deficit to eight at 37-29.

Bryant opened the second half with another steal and layup.

Arcadia responded with nine straight points. The Titans had a double-digit advantage and did not allow SOTA to cut it to single digits for the remainder of the contest.

Earlier this calendar year, Arcadia went winless in the Covid-shortened 2021 season. That result came after winning just one game in each of the previous two seasons.

Keller’s Titans matched that win total of the previous three seasons with victories over Greece Odyssey and host Spencerport in the More Than a Game Tournament last Friday and Saturday.

Thursday’s performance showed no sign of a letdown.

“This was one of those games where we felt like as a team, as a program we couldn’t let that happen,” Keller said. “We came off that Spencerport tournament hungry to keep it rolling. We had a good week of practice.

“I’m happiest for the for the guys especially for our seniors who have been here a while and had to go through some of those growing pains. I’m happiest for them.”

Chatman led SOTA with 14 points. Richie Nadal added 10. Bryant had eight. Moore and Aness Jaff scored five apiece. Sam Howland had four points.

Ryan Mineo scored three points for Arcadia.

Arcadia (3-0) hosts Sutherland next Wednesday for a 7:15 p.m. tipoff.

SOTA (1-2) welcomes Midlakes for a 6:30 p.m. start on Monday.

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