By PAUL GOTHAM
GATES, N.Y. — Jacob Sides and JC Walker combined for 27 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Lyons boys’ basketball team fell to Section VI champion, Randolph, 57-47 in the New York State Class C Far West Regional, early Saturday afternoon at Gates Chili High School.
Sides connected on a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter. The senior guard’s second shot from distance in the opening stanza pulled the Lions within three at 14-11.
Randolph closed the frame on a 7-3 run to take a double-digit lead into the second quarter.
“We didn’t play that well today,” Lyons head coach Dean Schott II said. “We were getting wide-open shots. No one except maybe Jake could make them.”
Randolph’s Jaiden Huntington scored all 16 of his points in the first half. Huntington connected on four 3-pointers in the opening 16 minutes, part of an overall effort that saw the Cardinals find the range from distance nine times in the contest including five in the first half.
“We fell asleep a couple times,” Schott said. “We left him alone when we were specifically instructed not to leave him alone.”
The Lions defense shut down Huntington in the second half, but teammate Carson Conley picked up the slack with three treys in the third quarter and finished with a game-high 24 points.
Lyons cut the deficit to seven early in the fourth quarter when Jamire Johnson converted a rebound and putback. The Lions had three possessions to pull closer but came away empty-handed.
Drew Hind hit a deep 3-pointer at the end of the possession that saw the Lions deny Randolph any open looks for :30 before an attempt late in the shot clock hit off a Lyons player giving Randolph another attempt. Hind’s bucket, a dagger, also came late in the shot clock.
“We were able to run our sets,” Schott said of the Lions late attempt to get back in the game. “It wasn’t for the lack of trying. They gave us everything they had.”
Stephen LeBrecht hit a 3 to make it a 51-45 game with 1:01 remaining.
Randolph’s defense limited Walker’s touches throughout the contest. The senior did not score until early in the third.
“It shouldn’t have slowed us down,” Schott said of the diamond-and-one defense Randolph used. “We went over at halftime exactly how to get JC where he needed to be. For some guys, maybe the stage was too big.”
Sides led Lyons with 16 points. Walker had 11 and LeBrecht nine points. Mikey Briggs (4), Jaiden Lopez (3) and Devyn Williams rounded out the scoring for the Lions.
The game was the fourth in seven days for Lyons (24-2) which won the Section V Class C3 title on Sunday before beating Northstar Christian in a sub-regional on Tuesday and Pembroke on Thursday in a regional qualifier.
Hind had 11 points for Randolph. Owen Nelson (4) and Griffin Nelson (2) also scored for the Cardinals.
Randolph (20-4) will play either Dolgeville (III) or Moravia (IV) in the state semifinals.
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