By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
John Nally would have preferred a standard rebound, like his Pittsford Sutherland players had grabbed all game to that point. But Eastridge big man Caquan Wester’s 3-point attempt did not fall on its own, instead being wedged between the side of the rim and backboard.
The ball being stuck, resulting in a jump ball, is a common occurrence in the sport. But with time close to expiring, a potential game-winner in question, in the playoffs?
“I’ve been coaching 22 years and I watch a ton of NBA, ton of college basketball. I’ve never seen it,” Nally remarked. “Pretty crazy. Honestly it was unfortunate for us, because they had the arrow and they got it out of bounds. I would have really liked that rebound to slip down. I think we were in rebounding position.”
The basketball had, however, already made its intentions known. Tyler Mullin, who swished the go-ahead 3-pointer, added to his heroics by stealing the inbound pass and dribbling out the clock. Sutherland defeated Eastridge 39-37 at Webster Thomas High School, advancing to the Section V Class A2 final to play East High.
Sutherland already won by the same score this year, at Brockport on Jan. 14. The Knights’ defense held Eastridge to its lowest point total of the season; the Lancers’ previous low was 52 at Canandaigua.
The Knights prevented the Lancers from scoring for 4:37 to start the contest, surrendering just 15 points in the first half. Wester was the only Lancer in double figures; he scored just four of his 16 points before halftime.
“Kids showed incredible toughness,” Nally assessed. “They were locked in on the scouting report. Everybody that went out there did their job defensively. To hold these guys under 40, 15 at the half, was pretty incredible effort.”
Sutherland also labored offensively, recording just four points in the second quarter and finding itself down three at the break, but junior Sam Pisanelli owned the third. Pisanelli produced all 14 of his team’s points that period, outscoring Eastridge individually.
Pisanelli totaled 21 points, including a second chance basket following his own miss to regain the lead on Sutherland’s penultimate possession. Wester, who has a listed seven inches on Pisanelli, defended the leading scorer down the stretch. Pisanelli, who averages 20.5 points a night, still managed to make important shots.
“The one thing about Sammy, it doesn’t matter; he keeps his head down and he just keeps going,” Nally explained. “He’s a bulldog offensively like that. He doesn’t really care how he scores it and the misses don’t resonate with him. He’s a tough kid like that offensively.”
Emmanuel Leftenant hit a difficult mid-range leaner to put Eastridge back ahead with 41 seconds to play, after which Sutherland called timeout and drew up a play for an open perimeter look.
Bobby Dodge set a screen to free ball handler Everett Wilcox, who drew the defense’s attention at the foul line and dished a no-look pass to Mullin. Mullin, undeterred by a strong Emmanuel Torres closeout, drilled the jumper behind the 3-point line.
Mullin may have tallied just two field goals, but both were fourth quarter 3s.
“We trust Ty,” Nally acknowledged. “He’s been shooting well for a couple games, so you’ve gotta go to him.”
The rematch of Eastridge’s 60-59 victory at Sutherland on Feb. 7 came down to another one-possession finish. The less-experienced Knights, who roster just four seniors to Eastridge’s eight, avenged that regular season loss in the postseason.
Nally didn’t expect to be in this position when practice started in November, with most of his team playing its first year of varsity basketball.
“It was definitely a longshot,” Nally admitted, “but I like the crew a lot. They’re really easy to be around; they practice hard. I wasn’t gonna be surprised if we went 11-9 but were peaking at the end, and we are.”
Sutherland scorers: Pisanelli 21, Mullin 6, Dodge 6, Wilcox 4, Max Michalski 2
Eastridge scorers: Wester 16, Leftenant 7, Torres 7, Anthony Bennett 4, Zy Switzer 3
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