BY TYLER HATHAWAY
EAST ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Lyons head coach Dean Schott II had a feeling his team would not get out of the gates quick. With the game being played at 5:15, compared to the usual 7:30, the Lions started off the game a little stiff.
“We started out slow. Early game, with four guys being out today”, said Schott. “Our defense was good, but it took us a while to get our offense going. We sort of expected that.”
In a first half in which Lyons gritted their way to a 22-14 lead, Schott knew his team’s offense wasn’t performing like they usually did. However, he was confident, and made sure during halftime his team was confident.
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“We talked about our terrible offensive execution, and us missing a bunch of easy shots. Once we missed some easy ones, we stopped taking some easy shots. I just wanted them to play basketball, and take the shots we’ve taken all year. And they did that in the second half.”
The Lyons offense then woke up. Lyons started the third quarter scorching hot with a quick 16-4 run, which was a major contributor in their eventual 69-33 win. Jaylen Battle and Jaiden Lopez both knocked down three-pointers. Battle put in a tough and-one layup and converted the free throw. Battle then hit another three-pointer sandwiched in between two JC Walker layups.
Jay Battle pulls up for 3. pic.twitter.com/f6LdZ9rRdM
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 20, 2022
After not playing in the first half, senior guard Jaylen Battle seemed to ignite the formerly stagnant Lyons offense. Lyons would go on to score 28 points in the third quarter, more than they scored in the first two quarters combined.
“I’ve got a pretty good bunch of basketball players”, Schott expressed. “Every game we come out with the belief we can’t put anything bad on tape, so we play very hard every single game.”
JC Walker connects from the corner. @AthleticsLY pic.twitter.com/TZJfEkuAgx
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 20, 2022
Lyons used a stifling press defense to generate many takeaways to get the offense easy points. Jaylen Battle led the scoring with a game-high 22-point performance. Junior forward JC Walker scored 16 points, made flashy passes, and sent back multiple East Rochester shot attempts. While stating this was one of his weaker games, Schott expressed how important of a player he is to their team.
“There’s nobody that works harder in practice, and there’s no nicer kid. He’s a pleasure to coach, and he’s one of the best basketball players I’ve ever seen around here.”
Lyons also received 13 points from Jacob Sides, who went 4/4 on free throw attempts. They got 10 points from Jaiden Lopez, with seven coming in the explosive second half. They also got six points from CyQuire Norvell, and two from Matt Briggs. For East Rochester, Christian Jones led with 11 points. Teddy Emmings finished with eight points Eli Tanner netted seven points, while his brother Sam Tanner had five. Mike Daniels scored one point.
Michael Daniels finds Christian Jones for the easy bucket. @ERocBoysBBall pic.twitter.com/SwK3j3PNRR
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 20, 2022
“They did what they had to do to win”, said Schott. “They have good focus, and we know what our goal is. We want a state championship.”
Lyons (12-0) travels to Sodus on January 21st for their next game.
East Rochester (7-3) will play their next game on January 25th, at Dansville.
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