HONEOYE — Yes, it was the No. 12 seed Perry Yellowjackets playing the No. 5 Honeoye Bulldogs but the tension from start to finish was no mismatch.
But this is what makes playoff basketball so special and Wednesday’s Section V Class C2 opener at Honeoye was a thriller from start to finish. And when junior guard Owen Reynolds made the second of two free throws with 4 seconds left in regulation, that was the breathing room the Bulldogs needed to advance with a 61-57 victory.
Perry (6-15) took an early lead before Honeoye (15-6) found its shooting touch to cut Perry’s lead to 19-17 at the end of one. But the shooting abandoned both teams in the second quarter. Honoeye made just three field goals and the Yellowjackets made just two to make it a 26-26 game at the half.
“We were getting good looks and it wasn’t like we were turning the ball over,” Honeoye coach Robb Delisanti said. “The ball just wasn’t going down. I just told them to keep shooting and I also told them I thought we were settling a little too much for outside shots … I wanted them to keep taking the ball to the hole.”
Delisanti thought the Honeoye bench was its advantage so if foul trouble became an issue, it might favor the Bulldogs. The other factor was that Perry was missing one of its top players, senior Hunter Henchen.
But missing a player was nothing new for the Yellowjackets.
“It’s been a tough season for us, a lot of adversity,” said Perry coach Phil Wyant. “We were counting on the bus on the way up, we had 38 games missed by guys this year and we played several games with six guys.”
But it wasn’t foul trouble that turned the tide for Honeoye. And while the driving of Reynolds and freshman Landon Washburn did help, it wasn’t that either.
Of all things, it was outside shooting. Taking a 45-43 lead into the fourth, Honeoye pushed its lead to nine (58-49) behind three straight 3-pointers from senior guard Evan Anselm.
“They were huge,” said Delisanti. “He doesn’t hit those, who knows what happens.”
Wyant not only recognized the big momentum for Honeoye, but he also noticed the timing of it and that’s what forced him to call a timeout.
“Just try to regroup and get the kids’ mindset back,” said Wyant. “We could have folded right then … but we got to within 3 and we had the basketball.”
Indeed, the tension of the final minutes and seconds was electric. But when Reynolds went to the line with 3 seconds left, all he needed was one free throw to make it a two-possession game and the second free throw did just that and allowed Honeoye to run out the clock.
“That’s what I’m most proud of and that’s all you ask as a coach,” said Wyant. “To have your kids play as hard as they can.”
Tyler Harvey led Perry with 20 points and Wyatt Arbo scored 14 while Bryce Tallman added 13. For Honeoye, Anselm, Reynolds and Washburn all scored 14 and Dylan Washburn scored 10.
Honeoye advances to play the winner of No. 4 York and No. 13 Red Jacket on Saturday.
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