By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Jahan Richetts scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter, and the Early College boys’ basketball team pulled away to defeat School of the Arts (SOTA) 45-40 in Rochester City Athletic Conference (RCAC) action, Thursday at School No. 33.
Trailing by one with less than two minutes remaining in the contest, Richetts went on a personal 9-0 run to give the Cobras a lead they did not surrender.
“He put us on his shoulders there the last few minutes of the game,” Early College head coach John Geglia said.
After connecting on the go-ahead bucket, Richetts pulled up in transition from the right wing and nailed a 3-pointer.
“I was thinking I need to knock this down, so we can win this game,” the 5-foot-9 guard said of the triple. “It felt great.”
His first 3-pointer of the game came with a 1:34 left in the contest. Geglia liked the outcome but perhaps would have preferred a more judicious use of the possession considering the time and score of the contest.
“We don’t find ourselves in the situation often where we’re running down clock at the end of the game,” Geglia said. “It’s something that we’ll talk about tomorrow in practice. We definitely would rather him pull that out and run something a little bit more organized. Either run clock or get a better shot.”
Richetts converted on the next two possessions. His pull-up jumper from the right wing made it a two-possession game at 44-38 with 29.9 seconds left on the clock.
Jahan Richetts stops and pops, gives Early College a 44-38 lead. pic.twitter.com/1dsv5sbQRT
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 27, 2022
“Once we had a little bit of a cushion I felt really confident in going to Jahan,” Geglia explained. “Just kinda running an isolation for him. He’s lightning quick and can get a shot off at any point.”
Early College took a 19-12 lead into halftime.
Michael Stroughter pushed the advantage to nine on the first possession of the frame.
Michael Stroughter gets ahead of the defense for 2. Early College 26 SOTA 17 pic.twitter.com/mVMdbSG5rQ
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 27, 2022
SOTA responded.
Keshaun Chatman hit a pull-up jumper along the wing. Richie Nadal drove the lane for an and-one, and Tyree Moore hit a putback to cut the deficit to two at 26-24 with 2:36 remaining in the third. Nadal gave SOTA a brief lead at 29-28.
Tyree Moore finishes in the lane. SOTA has scored 7 straight and cut the deficit to 2. pic.twitter.com/1ZplU0AYEk
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 27, 2022
“I thought we got a little lackadaisical defensively in third quarter,” Geglia said. “We gave up a lot of penetration to the rim from the wings.”
Richie Nadal buries a 3 to give SOTA the lead at 36-35. pic.twitter.com/E8ek39u9l4
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 27, 2022
Nadal’s 3-pointer gave SOTA a 36-35 lead setting the stage for Richetts.
Jahan Richetts finishes in the open floor. Early College 33-31. pic.twitter.com/SkE7MolTSn
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 27, 2022
Stroughter finished with six points. Jamezs Brown and Jamari Williams had seven apiece. Quentin Majors-Brown accounted for three points.
Chatman paced the SOTA offense with 16 points. Nadal added 13. Moore scored eight. Sam Howland had two points.
The win snapped an eight-game losing streak.
“We don’t win a lot, but when we do it’s kinda sweet,” said Geglia. “I feel happy for them. The pressure mounts. Every loss gets heavier and heavier. It’s really hard to keep kids together and focused when they don’t experience success. The message is always ‘Get better. It’s going to turn around.’ It’s nice that they get rewarded for that. They’re really happy today.”
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