By STEVE BRICKLER
GATES, N.Y. — Over the years, Irondequoit basketball has been known for its stingy defense. The Eagles defense lived up to their reputation in the waning moments of Saturday’s Class A Far West Regional. Chris Cardon’s squad prevented visiting Amherst of Section VI from scoring on its last four possessions, while getting single free throws from Ryan Heath and Azavier Ross in the last 13 seconds of regulation to survive and advance to the New York State semi-finals with a 51-48 victory.
Cardon figured that the game would play out as it did.
“When you get this far, games are not going to be as pretty. These games are grind it out, gritty types of games. Amherst was a physical and tough team. They were 21-3 for a reason.”
Quinn VanKerkhove in traffic. Irondequoit 14-11 pic.twitter.com/IQRthbJOOR
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 11, 2023
Cardon also noted that the Eagles played without sixth man Aiden Greco who is out with an injury and with starter Kenyen Lovett who was playing under the weather. Lovett still gave the Eagles important minutes in the game.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JENNIFER LAEMLEIN.
The Eagles went into the fourth quarter with a six-point edge and were leading 47-40 with five and a half to play when Amherst’s Antonio Andrews and Jordan Anderson scored the next five points to pull the Tigers within two. Isaiah Ballard countered with a finish off the glass to extend the Eagles lead to four, but Andrews followed with a three pointer, one of his five on the afternoon, to pull Amherst within one at 49-48 with a minute and a half to play.
Coming out of a timeout, the Eagles were called for a five-second count on the inbounds play. Amherst guard Josh Bugiera tried a floater from just inside the lane that fell short. After a missed Eagle free throw, Amherst guard Nick Moore tried to drive to the basket but Heath stepped in his path to draw a charging call.
Ryan Heath. Takes the charge. 12.6 remaining Irondequoit 49-48 pic.twitter.com/W0YWFVbXrc
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 11, 2023
On the inbound play, Heath was fouled at midcourt and hit 1-of-2 with 12.6 seconds to play. The Tigers put the ball in the hands of Anderson who led all scorers with 24 points on the game. Anderson drove to the right side of the lane but his jumper in traffic bounced off the rim and in the battle for the rebound, Irondequoit’s Azavier Ross picked up the loose ball and was fouled with 1.4 seconds left. Ross hit 1 of 2 to provide a three-point margin and Anderson’s desperation mid-court heave at the buzzer fell short.
Aside from a three pointer to open the game by Moore, the Eagles led the entire game after taking the lead at 4-3 on field goals from Quinn Vankerkhove and Isaiah Ballard. The rest of the quarter remained tight with the Eagles biggest lead being four throughout the opening quarter which ended at 14-11. Starting guard Ahmir Dunn picked up 2 early fouls for the Tigers which forced him to the bench for the majority of the half.
The second quarter was the most productive for the Eagles as they twice opened leads by as many as nine points including a 33-24 halftime advantage. The Eagles scored 19 of their overall points for the game in the second, led by nine from Heath including two threes, four each from Ballard and Xavier Gissendanner and two from Ross to close out the half.
Ryan Heath feeds Azavier Ross for two. Irondequoit 33 Amherst 24 (halftime) pic.twitter.com/G49m14TtdV
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 11, 2023
Both teams came out cold to begin the second half. The Eagles went nearly five minutes without scoring but Amherst was only able to score five themselves during that stretch. Ballard broke the drought with two free throws for Irondequoit and then both teams traded baskets to keep the score within a two-to-five-point margin for the balance of the quarter until Ross and Heath scored the last four points of the quarter to push the Eagles advantage to six. Anderson kept things tight for Amherst by knocking in two of his triples in the third and another to begin the fourth quarter.
Ryan Heath floater. Irondequoit 45-40. pic.twitter.com/ZqiWa09Jcl
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 11, 2023
Cardon felt that the Eagles did a good job keeping Moore at bay, holding him to nine points, seven under his season average. He also thought that the Eagles rebounding down the stretch got better, especially from Ballard and Gissendanner. The 37th-year coach pointed to the Eagles’ regular season schedule paying dividends in the postseason
“Playing teams like Athena (4 times), Sutherland (3 times), Mendon (twice), Victor and West Genesee prepared our guys to play in game like this.”
Heath led the way for Irondequoit (21-4) with 18 points, followed by 12 each from Gissendanner and Ballard. Ross and Vankerkhove added five and four points respectively. The Eagles will play South Side of Section 8 in Glens Falls on Friday night.
For Amherst, aside from Anderson and Moore, scoring contributions came from Elijah Dixson and Andrews (5 each), Zavion Hawkins (3) and Bugera (2). They finish at 21-4.
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