By TIM IRVING
“It’s the NCAA Tournament, it’s our NCAA Tournament and we’ve gotta show up and play.”
East High coach Darrell Barley watched his team fall behind by 15 points early and rally to beat Wayne in the Class A2 semifinals, 60-56 and advance to Saturday’s final.
Third-seeded Wayne built a 15-point lead, working the ball into the paint for P.J. Ostrowski and Devon Forrest.
And Mason Blankenberg sticking two three-pointers, it was 21-7 after one.
“I thought we were just gonna press them and score the ball and he (Wayne coach Bill Thomson) spread us out to get open shots, “Barley said.
The lead ballooned to 19 in the second quarter as Ostrowski fed Forrest cutting to the basket.
Then Barley took a gamble. He put Shamir Caruthers in at the point and shifted his son Damani to the shooting guard and after a couple of three-pointers, Wayne reacted, leaving Quinton Gordan-Smith, in his first game back after missing three weeks.
“It’s chess and not checkers and it was a chess move that I made, they kept leaving him open, they weren’t gonna leave Damani open and he stepped up.”
The lead was 36-27 Wayne at the half but the momentum had shifted.
Barley scored 12 in third quarter and by the halfway point, East had the lead.
Gordan-Smith came out hot in the third, hitting three treys
East outscored Wayne 25-6 in the third quarter and gained all the momentum
“We started slow and they just wanted it more than us. So, we just had to decide in our hearts, this could be our last game, we’ve gotta play,” Damani Barley said afterwards.
With 2:32 to play, Forrest hit a three-pointer that cut the lead to 55-49.
Wayne then gave five straight fouls to force East to shoot free throws, which didn’t work out well for them.
Forrest hit another three with just under 40 seconds to play to cut the lead to 57-54.
Barley hit a free throw and Wayne missed a shot but Blankenberg got a put back with 14.2 to go, making the score 58-56.
Another missed free throw and Wayne worked the ball up, Blankenberg took a three-pointer that just came up short, Barley grabbed the rebound and made two free throws for the final.
“Those guys came to play, “ Darrell Barley said. “I think the pressure (defense) got to them and shifting Damani to the “2” was the difference in the second half.”
Damani and Darrell get to continue his senior season together.
Coach said, “I think he’s lost seven games in his career so he’s a kid whose been in the fire and there was something that got him to turn it up.”
Damani added that his team is even more battle-tested, “I feel like this win brought us together even more than we were before so I feel like we’re gonna come out and we’re gonna play.”
The Eagles face Pittsford Sutherland in the finals at 11am at Gates Chili on Saturday.
SCORING
3-Wayne 56
Devon Forrest 19, Nate Coleman 3, Cameron Blankenberg 7, Sean Nellis 3, Mason Blankenberg 14, P.J. Ostrowski 10.
2-East 60
Damani Barley 21, Zion Parsons 10, Quinton Gordan-Smith 11, Kai McCullough 11, Shamir Caruthers 2, Jeramiah Handy 5.
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