No. 2 Irondequoit used a 9-0 game-opening run and a 13-0 second quarter run to break away from No. 7 Canandaigua early en route to a 60-37 victory in the quarterfinal round of the Class A1 tournament.
On the first possession of the game, Quinn Vankerkhove hit the first of his four triples on his way to a game0high 14 for the Eagles. Kenyen Lovett then chipped in back-to-back buckets followed by a basket from Isaiah Ballard to give the Eagles a lead they did not surrender. The second quarter run was started by six points in a row from Xavier Gissendanner and ended with five more from Vankerkhove with two points from Azavier Ross in between.
Irondequoit went to a full-court press and trap defense in the second quarter which forced numerous Canandaigua turnovers as the Eagles went into the break with a 27-11 lead. The Eagles continued to add to the lead in the second half including an 8-0 run to begin the fourth quarter.
Irondequoit had a balanced scoreline with Gissendanner and Ballard each scoring 10 while Lovett added nine, Ryan Heath (8), Ross (6) and Salahadin Bori (3).
Nate Barone led Canandaigua (7-14) with nine points. Joe Caito (8), Drew Williamee (6), Nathan Sheridan (5), George Spinelli (3), Matt Pawlicki (2), Mason Lloyd (2) and Connor Mckenna (2) rounded out the scoring for the Braves.
Irondequoit (17-4) will meet No. 3 Webster Thomas in the semifinals on Wednesday, March 1st. Irondequoit took a 54-36 decision when the two teams met in the regular season.
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