By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Tournament MVP Braedyn Chambry scored 13 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, and top-seeded Byron-Bergen endured a pair of late rallies to defeat No. 2 Alexander, 52-46 in the Section V Class C2 Boys’ Basketball championship Saturday afternoon at Blue Cross Arena.
In a battle of Genesee Region big men, Chambry connected eight times from the floor and converted 8-of-10 from the free-throw line while neutralizing his counterpart, Dylan Pohl.
“We talked a lot about how we wanted him to finish today as opposed to just turning into Dylan’s left hand,” said Byron-Bergen head coach Roxanne Noeth whose squad took a 57-54 decision when the two teams met during the regular season. “I said ‘You’re turning into his blocking hand.’ That’s why we went to a lot of spin moves.”
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JENNIFER LAEMLEIN.
After connecting on just one field goal over the final 13 minutes of the first half, Chambry scored on the first three possessions of the third quarter to give the Bees’ their largest lead of the game at eight points.
His teammates were key to get the senior center open in and around the lane.
“We talked over the last two days in our preparation about setting a lot of screens on their big guy trying wear him down, physically,” Noeth said. “That was really a focus in the second half. Brendan Pimm did a great job with that. Brodie Baubie did a little bit of it. Just trying free up Bray and make his looks a little easier.”
Braedyn Chambry, in the lane, gives Byron-Bergen a 26-20 lead over Alexander heading into halftime. @SecVBBasketball pic.twitter.com/LwDEcV0RYW
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 2, 2024
Byron-Bergen goes to Braedyn Chambry on the first two possessions of the third. Big man responds with a pair of buckets. pic.twitter.com/YqgdrQ6Svw
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 2, 2024
Kingston Woods gives Alexander a 44-43 lead with 5:32 remaining. pic.twitter.com/sXk7lEuXwx
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 2, 2024
Colin Martin buries a corner 3 to give Byron-Bergen a 46-44 lead. pic.twitter.com/VRJdhLwn4r
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) March 2, 2024
Chambry responded with three buckets in the lane for a 32-24 B-B lead.
Alexander (19-5) answered with a 9-0 run as Kingston Woods connected for three to make it a one-point game. Trenton Woods followed with a basket next time down the floor and a 33-32 Trojans lead.
Coming out of a timeout, Byron-Bergen (19-4) went back to Chambry to regain the lead.
Alexander took one last lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Chambry converted 1-of-2 from the free throw line to spark a 6-0 run to close the game.
“Bray just wasn’t going to be denied,” Noeth said. “He drove the bus. That’s what we called him all year, the bus driver. He drove the bus today.”
Chambry also played a large role in limiting Pohl (averaging 20.2 points per game during the regular season) to two points in Saturday’s championship game.
“He stopped him a couple times early,” Noeth said. “He got a big block on him… He was a beast on the defensive glass.
“In the end, they’re 17 and 18-year old kids, and it’s a lot. The stage is a lot. The magnitude is a lot.”
Noeth noted that the defensive effort was nothing out of the ordinary for Chambry, who became the program’s all-time scorer earlier this season.
“When I first brought him up (to varsity), I used to call him ‘Johnson & Johnson’ because he was like a band-aid back there for all the mistakes we made. Now he’s graduated to the bus driver. The kid has worked his rear end off. No doubt about it.”
The championship was the first for the Byron-Bergen boys’ basketball program.
The historical significance didn’t stop there.
Noeth etched her name in the local record books by becoming the first woman (on record) in Section V history to lead a boys’ basketball team to a championship.
“It probably means a lot to other people more than it means to me because I just consider myself a basketball coach.
“It’s cool. I’m just happy we won. It’s really cool to break barriers like that. It just proves that you can do whatever you want. Although this was never on my radar. Coaching boys’ basketball was never on my radar. It kinda worked out. That’s about the best it can work out.”
Not to be lost in the events, the championship comes as the Byron-Bergen Central School District continues the next phases of a capital project that includes a new gymnasium.
“At Byron-Bergen we’re about to tear our gym down and restructure the whole thing,” said Noeth a 1987 graduate of the school who played on the 1984 girls’ squad that won the only title in that program’s history. “There will never be another one in the gym floor that I played on and they played on. Which is really cool historically. How do you put that into words? It’s been forever, and today’s the day.”
All-Tournament Team
Colin Martin (Byron-Bergen), Brody Baubie (Byron-Bergen), Kingston Woods (Alexander), Trenton Woods (Alexander), Jake Pangrazio (York) and Kingston Loucks (Bolivar-Richburg). MVP: Braedyn Chambry (Byron-Bergen).
ALEXANDER
Kingston Woods 10 0-0 22, Dominic Kwiatek 0 0-0 0, Damien Hale 0 0-0 0, Jacob Brooks 2 0-0 4, Trenton Woods 6 1-2 14, Paul Schmitt 0 0-0 0, Jaden Snyder 1 2-2 4, Dylan Pohl 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 20 3-4 — 46
BYRON-BERGEN
Cody Carlson 0 0-0 0, Noah Clare 1 0-0 2, Joel Lamb 0 0-0 0, Colin Martin 6 0-0 14, Braedyn Chambry 8 8-10 24, Brody Baubie 1 3-4 6, Brendan Pimm 2 2-2 6 TOTALS 18 13-16 — 53
ALEXANDER 11 9 17 9 — 46
BYRON-BERGEN 12 14 15 11 — 52
3-point goals: ALEXANDER 3 (K. Woods 2, T. Woods 1); BYRON-BERGEN 3 (Martin 2, Baubie 1).
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