By PAUL GOTHAM
MENDON, N.Y. — In a game in which neither team held a double-digit lead, an 8-3 run midway through the fourth quarter proved to be the difference.
Victor (No. 16 NYSSWA Class AA) and Pittsford Mendon (No. 3 NYSSWA Class A), two teams that won’t face each other in March, provided a post-season glimpse in January.
Jackson Green finished with a game-high 24 points while Caleb Lewis posted a double-double as Mendon (11-0) stayed undefeated with a 67-59 triumph.
“It was the grit in that fourth quarter,” Mendon head coach Bob Nally said. “It was who wants it more. It really came down to who was going to step up, which of the 10 guys out there was going to step up each possession and make a play. It was a good basketball game to be a part of.”
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Clinging to a one-point edge with five minutes left in the contest, London Hoyser scored his only bucket of the night. Lewis connected from behind the 3-point arc. Kidder Lindley finished in the lane for two of his 15 points, and Green converted one of two free throws.
Less than two minutes remained, and Mendon had all it needed with a 61-55 lead.
Kidder Lindley. @mendonbball 60-55 pic.twitter.com/t0crrRLLO5
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 20, 2022
“You know Victor is going to play good defense,” Nally stated. “They took us out of our bread and butter which is our man offense and played a tough zone. They have good length out there. Their guys are athletic. They’re good on-ball defenders.”
Lewis and Lindley hit one 3-pointer apiece as Mendon opened the game with a 10-3 lead, but the Vikings hit just two field goals over the remaining five minutes of the first quarter. Phil Nwugwo finished inside, and Victor had a 16-15 lead after eight minutes of play.
Nick Leonard converted an and-one for a 30-26 lead with 2:58 remaining in the first half.
“We weren’t hitting shots we normally hit,” Nally stated. “Credit to their defense. They kept us down in scoring a little bit”
Mendon closed the first half scoring 11 straight. Green connected twice from long range and finished with 10 points in the quarter.
Jackson Green grabs a rebound and goes the length of the floor to beat the halftime horn. @mendonbball closes the 2nd on a 9-0 run to take a 37-30 lead into halftime. pic.twitter.com/2vc3qfkJg9
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 20, 2022
But Victor rallied.
A Cam Ryan bucket along the baseline gave the Blue Devils a 43-42 late in the third quarter.
“We came into the second half with some good momentum, a good finish to the second quarter,” Nally said. “We started the third quarter pretty well and then Victor went on a good run.”
The teams traded leads before Lindley hit a baseline jumper for a 49-47 Mendon advantage heading into the final eight minutes of play.
“We didn’t make enough plays down the stretch, and they did,” Victor head coach Tyler Roberts said. “They’ve got four great shooters. It was tough. We obviously struggled with it tonight.”
Victor big man Phil Nwugwo scored nine of his team-high 23 points in the third quarter. The 6-foot-6 senior forward cut Mendon’s half-time lead to one when he converted a traditional three-point play. His drop step and basket in the lane tied the game at 47 with 1:04 remaining in the third quarter.
Putback from Phil Nwugwo, but @victorboysbball trails 10-8. pic.twitter.com/aRj4dahhyB
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 20, 2022
“No matter what you do to him, you’re not going to shut him down,” Nally said of Nwugwo who came into the game averaging nearly 20 points per game. “One of the keys to their team is how Phil opens up the offense when he draws doubles. We were okay giving up Phil’s average. We wanted to play him tough. We wanted to keep him from getting easy buckets which is harder than you think.
“We weren’t going to let their shooters go off because then you feel like you’re in trouble. We knew what we were in for with Phil. We didn’t want to get it poured on with their guard play.”
Lewis had 14 points to go with his team-high 10 rebounds. Roberts pointed to the Vikings work on the boards as a key to the game.
Jackson Green finds Caleb Lewis on the break. @mendonbball 51-47 early fourth pic.twitter.com/4hSj2rbkrc
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 20, 2022
“We let them get offensive rebounds which is a big part of their game,” Roberts said. “They got eight offensive rebounds in the first half. We didn’t do a good enough job with that part of it. Second half we rebounded a lot better. That was the difference, but we just didn’t have enough.”
Green converted 8-of-12 free throws for the night including 5-of-8 in the fourth quarter. The junior guard handed out five assists. Teammates Matt Woods scored seven points, and Conner Rook accounted for four. Hoyser had five assists.
Mendon played without 6-foot-4 senior forward Eric Krowl.
Nally’s team has won 26 straight games dating back to the start of last season when the Vikings finished 15-0 and won the Class A1 title in the Covid-shortened 2021 campaign.
Mendon travels to play at Athena on Friday. A 6:45 PM tip off is scheduled.
Interior passing: Phil Nwugwo to Nick Leonard. pic.twitter.com/bD2iCsysao
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 20, 2022
Nwugwo led all players with 13 rebounds. Nick Leonard scored 17 points including eight in the fourth quarter. The sophomore forward also had six rebounds and five assists. Cam Ryan added seven points. Ryan Dodge (5), Jonah Whittier (4) and Brennan Hopkins (3) rounded out the scoring for the Blue Devils. Victor (12-1) hosts Fairport for a 7:15 PM start on Friday.
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