By STEVE BRICKLER
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — All five Victor starters reached double figures in points as the No. 7 seed Blue Devils posted a convincing 86-56 win over No. 6 Irondequoit in the Class AA semi-finals at Gates-Chili High School, Tuesday night. The defending Class AA State Champions move on to play undefeated and No. 1 seed Greece Athena which is also currently ranked first in New York State. Game time is set for 8 PM at Blue Cross Arena on Saturday night.
“The goal of every season is to be peaking around playoff time,” said Victor Coach Tyler Roberts of the Blue Devils’ complete performance on the night.
Victor never trailed, jumping out to an 11-2 lead early on. Garrett Clar had half of his 14 points on the night in the early going to help the Blue Devils get off to a fast start.
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Irondequoit was able to get the ball down low in the early going for some good looks at the basket but were unable to convert. That changed in the second half of the quarter as the Eagles, the defending State Class A runner-up, went on a 10-2 run of their own to pull within one at 13-12. Isaiah Ballard led the Eagles back with six first-quarter points using great footwork down low to get to the rim and finish. Griffen Hopkins stopped the Eagles rally with a three pointer as the quarter ended to give the Blue Devils a four-point advantage.
Victor took command of the game in the second quarter with a 21-2 run to start the quarter. The Blue Devils used quick ball movement to create open shots, many in the paint on back door cuts to the goal. Clar began the run with a triple followed by six straight points underneath by Owen Dake. Ballard briefly interrupted the Victor run with a bucket, but Nick Leonard followed with back-to-back buckets for the Blue Devils. The run continued with four more points by Clar and two each from Dake and Hopkins. Cam Ryan helped to orchestrate the offense after missing the majority of the season due to an injury.
Roberts commented on his team’s ability to create open shots, aided in part by the return of Ryan.
“This is a team that is incredibly selfless and adding Cam back to the mix and just a healthy roster in general really helped us tonight.”
Irondequoit Coach Kyle Trevas concurred. “They are a well-oiled, experienced team that is healthy now and firing on all cylinders. They were always a pass and a half ahead of us. They move the ball well, knock down shots, are patient and know how to get the job done.”
Irondequoit’s lone seniors and returners from last year’s team, Ballard and Quinn VanKerkhove, did their part to try to get the Eagles back into the game. From the second quarter until the middle of the fourth quarter, the duo scored every Irondequoit point and combined for 49 of the Eagles’ 56 points overall. Ballard finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds while VanKerkhove added 23.
Trailing by as much as 23 points in the second quarter, the Eagles looked to get themselves within striking distance in the third quarter by climbing within 14 points.
Victor responded by scoring nine straight points to regain a 23-point margin. The Eagles would get no closer than 18 points for the remainder of the game as Victor steadily increased the lead in the fourth quarter to the final margin of thirty.
Victor returned four starters from last year’s state champion team and that experience has been valuable during the current post-season run.
“When you have guys who have played in big games before, it calms the nerves, and I think the guys who haven’t played in the big games see the guys who have played in them and they have a little more confidence because we have guys who have been there before,” said Roberts.
The Blue Devils (15-8) now turn their attention to Athena (23-0) who lost in the Class A final to Irondequoit last season. Due to realignment at the state level, Athena and Victor are both competing in the AA bracket this season. They did not play each other in the regular season as Victor competed in Monroe County Division 1, while Athena was in Monroe County Division 3.
“Athena is a great team and we’re going to have to play our best. It’s going to be a total team effort on our end and that’s what we work on every day in practice, is our entire team contributing,” said Roberts.
Dake led all Victor scorers with 16, followed by Hopkins (15), Clar (14) and 10 each by Leonard and Ryan. Colin Kubrich and Brody Burgess contributed 4 points apiece while Colin Barber, Alex Long and Everett Webb added 3 apiece. Hayden Nearpass and Justine Rosello each finished with 2 to round out the Blue Devils scoring.
Irondequoit finishes at 15-8. Aside from Ballard and VanKerkhove, the Eagles got 2 points apiece from Chase Leonardo, Goti Bandas and Myles Wynn and 1 point from Jayden Patterson.
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