By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Graftonieshe Bowers and Jaylen Giles combined for 35 points to lead four in double figures, and the East High girls’ basketball team held off a late rally to defeat Edison Tech, 70-59 in Rochester City Athletic Conference (RCAC) action, Wednesday night.
The win was the seventh straight for the Eagles (10-5).
“We’re getting everybody to understand their roles on the team,” said second-year head coach Moe Jones. “Everybody’s buying into what the coaching staff is saying. We want it. We’re definitely fighting for it.”
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After shrugging off an early deficit, Giles followed a Nevaeh Gibson layup in the open floor with a 3-pointer to spark a 16-2 East run. When it was over, the Eagles had a lead they did not surrender at 21-13.
“We had some mental errors early in the game, but we cleaned those up,” Jones said. “The girls played for each other. They did exactly what I asked them to do.”
Jaylen Giles finds Graftoneishe Bowers underneath for 2. pic.twitter.com/uih578UGmK
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 8, 2023
Bowers converted a rebound and putback. Giles followed with a steal and layup to close the half, and East led 35-25 heading into the break.
East ran the lead to 19 early in the third quarter when Bowers scored on an inbound play, and Grisham got ahead of the defense for a layup. East led 52-33.
Jaylen Giles gets the friendly roll for 3. east 15-11. pic.twitter.com/5oIURimKQ5
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 9, 2023
Edison rallied.
Kaysia Jones grabbed her own miss and converted to start the fourth-quarter scoring. Chasity Edward finished in the lane, and Jakayla Costello added two more as the Inventors scored the first six of the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to six at 57-51.
Edison junior Gabriela Lopez connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to make it a 63-59 game with less than a minute remaining.
Kaysia Jones finds Gabriela Lopez in transition for 3, and the lead is down to 4. East 63-59 with 2 to go. pic.twitter.com/7PwRGTvoAx
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 9, 2023
Bowers led all scorers with 19 points. Giles added 16. Gabriella Brown-Sturdviant had 14 while Grisham accounted for 13 points. Jiasia Norris (7) and Sinayah Abney (1) rounded out the scoring for East.
Jones hit a pair of early triples to give Edison an 11-5 lead. The ninth-grader finished with 15 points.
Nakayla Costello paced the Edison offense with 18 points. Edwards (7), Jakayla Costello (4) and Malahni Johnson (2) also scored for Edison (10-6).
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