By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Dylan Pohl finished three blocks shy of a triple-double, and Alexander erased a halftime deficit to beat host School of the Arts (SOTA), 60-50 in non-league action, Tuesday night.
The 6-foot-5 junior forward netted 10 of his game-high 27 points in the third quarter when Alexander outscored SOTA 17-4.
“He’s a gamer,” said Alexander head coach Jalen Smith. “He’s one of the best in the GR (Genesee Region). I respect how hard he plays. He leads this team.”
Trailing 33-25 coming out of halftime, Pohl started the scoring when he converted one-of-two from the free throw line. After teammate King Woods hit a runner in the lane, Pohl took a lead from Trent Woods in transition and finished in the open floor. He returned the favor and set up Woods for a back. The duo combined again with Pohl applying the finishing touch to tie the game at 35 less than four minutes into the frame.
“I’m big on the first four minutes of the third quarter being the biggest part of the game,” Smith said. “Last game we came out and handled business. This one we did as well.”
Trent Woods grabbed an offensive rebound and finished to give the Trojans a lead they did not surrender at 39-37. Next trip down the floor, Damien Hale connected from behind the 3-point arc for a 42-37 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“At the half, I just told them ‘We got to get tougher. We got to command the boards in this half.’ They answered. They always take what I have to say and respond.”
Trent Woods, no look, leads Dylan Pohl for two. Credit given to the bench. pic.twitter.com/rZTwBRIbvk
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 3, 2024
Pohl hit 10 shots in the game and connected on 7-of-8 attempts from the free throw line. He also grabbed 12 rebounds.
“He was the difference maker on both ends of the floor; we had no answer for him,” said SOTA head coach Kyle Crandall. “We needed to find a better way in the second half to be able to stop him, and we couldn’t. No matter what we tried. Whether it was a 2-3 (zone defense) focusing on him. Whether it was just putting one guy on him or rotating a couple guys. He just completely dominated us.”
Latrell Ingram scored eight of his team-high 26 points in the second quarter when the Silverhawks grabbed a double-digit lead.
Jordan Jenkins took a Paul Stevens pass and finished with contact. The three-point play gave SOTA a 22-19 edge. Ingram hit a pair from the stripe. Sam Howland added two more points. Stevens collected a steal and led Ishmael Gonzalez into the open floor for a layup. Ingram pushed the advantage to 10 at 33-23 with an and-one off a 3-pointer.
Latrell Ingram-Williams pulls up in the lane for two. pic.twitter.com/oTd0c1pbZR
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) January 3, 2024
The Silverhawks had produced points on six of nine possessions to grab their largest lead of the game.
The Trojans limited SOTA to seven field goals in the second half.
“It was a good team effort from them,” Crandall said. “They really shut us down defensively. It was hard for us to get any good open shots. Some of the shots where we got some clearance, Pohl was right there either blocking or altering shots.”
ALEXANDER
King Woods 4 0-0 8, Dom Kwiatek 1 0-2 2, Damien Hale 2 0-0 6, Trent Woods 4 8-11 16, Anthony Pellegrino 0 0-0 0, Paul Schmidt 0 1-3 1, Jaden Snyder 0 0-0 0, Dylan Pohl 10 7-8 27 TOTALS 21 16-24 60
SCHOOL OF THE ARTS
Sam Howland 4 2-3 10, Jordan Jenkins 1 1-1 3, Bennie Laver 0 0-0 0, Ishmael Gonzalez 3 4-5 10, Latrell Ingram 9 5-6 26, Paul Stevens 0 1-2 1, Zayvier Little 0 0-0 0 TOTALS 17 13-17 50
ALEXANDER 14 11 17 18 — 60
SCHOOL OF THE ARTS 13 20 4 13 — 50
3-point goals — Alexander 2 (Hale 2); School of the Arts 3 (Ingram 3)
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