Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Balanced East Rochester cruises to second win in as many days

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L-R: Judah Tanner (15 points), Jordan Nunn (15 points), Justice Allen (5) and Eli Tanner (21) combined to score 56 points in East Rochester’s 73-42 win over Avoca-Prattsburgh on Saturday. (Photo: Paul Gotham)

By PAUL GOTHAM

EAST ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Less than 24 hours after securing a win in its season opener, the boys’ basketball team from East Rochester took the court Saturday afternoon.

Early-game struggles might have been the result of the quick turnaround.

The Bombers, though, found their rhythm in time.

Eli Tanner led four in double figures as host East Rochester defeated Avoca-Prattsburgh, 73-42 in non-league action.

In a game in which ER never trailed, the Bombers didn’t get separation from a one-possession difference until midway through the second quarter.

A three-quarter court Avoca-Prattsburgh press kept the Bombers from getting in sync.

“Coming off the back-to-back games, we came out a little dead,” said East Rochester head coach Jordan Koch. “The energy wasn’t really there early. Once we started to figure it (the press) out, move the ball against it, we realized it was a lot easier than it looked.”

ER, if nothing else, understood when and where to find advantages on the court. And who could exploit those opportunities.

Justice Allen scored all five of his points in the first quarter. Judah Tanner accounted for nine of his 15 in the second quarter. Eli Tanner netted 17 of his team-high 21 coming out of the locker room at halftime. Jordan Nunn spread his 15 points across the four quarters.

“Our team knows that it’s not going to have a 30-point scorer every night,” Koch said. “It’s going to be different guys. They buy into it. If someone’s feeling it, they’ll find him the ball. My coaches and I are good at finding mismatches and exposing them. We’re a very unselfish team. We want to win, and we don’t care who scores.”

Judah Tanner connected for three from the left wing early in the second quarter. The junior guard followed teammate Noah Wollschleger’s three-ball with another triple and then a traditional three-point play the next trip down the floor.

“Our guys know to move the ball, and someone’s going to get open,” Koch said. “The unselfishness shows. They’re not going to force shots. They’re going to find gaps and open spots, and that’s what it’s about.”

Tanner’s and-one gave ER (2-0) its first double-digit advantage of the game at 28-16.

Eli Tanner scored the last four points of the second quarter.

That was just a hint of things to come. The older brother connected four times from the floor in the third quarter. ER’s lead ballooned to 21 at 52-31 heading into the fourth.

The Bombers’ performance came against an A-P squad that advanced to the NYSPHSAA Class D semifinals a season ago. This after winning back-to-back Class D NYS championships the two previous years.

“I told my kids, even though they’re a Class D team, they’re a very-well run program,” Koch said. “They’re players are very good. What they’ve done these past few years is special.”

With the loss, Avoca-Prattsburgh fell to 0-3 under first-year head coach Andy Ratchford.

“This group here is really trying find their own and find each other,” Ratchford said. “We’re really trying to focus on the five guys on the floor, pitching in and doing anything we can. There were moments where we were doing okay against the pressure, the activity, the athleticism.

“This game is a good eye-opener, but it’s also one of those games where we just let it go. We’re on to the next one. We got the whole season to progress and be where we want to be. By the time we’re done, we’re hoping it’s a different story.”

AVOCA-PRATTSBURGH
Landon White 0 3-8 3, JJ Crowder 7 8-12 24, Austin Swift 1 0-0 2, Noah Hoffman 0 0-0 0, Carter Button 1 2-2 4, Colin Zurlick 3 1-4 7, Connor Parulski 1 0-0 2, Bryan Heale 0 0-0 0, Gracyn Rumsey 0 0-0 0, Julian Frings 0 0-2 0 TOTALS 13 14-28 — 42

EAST ROCHESTER
Jaidyn Herb 0 0-0 0, Jason Hernandez 1 0-0 3, Judah Tanner 5 3-6 15, Justice Allen 2 1-2 5, Jordan Nunn 6 2-2 15, Noah Mather 1 0-0 2, ELi Tanner 8 2-3 21, Noah Wollschleger 3 2-2 10, Pedro Pendones 0 0-0 0, Will Pendones 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 27 10-16 — 73

AVOCA-PRATTSBURGH 9 14 8 11 — 42
EAST ROCHESTER 13 23 16 21 — 73

3-point goals AVOCA-PRATTSBURGH 2 (Crowder 2); EAST ROCHESTER 7 (Hernandez 1, Judah Tanner 2, Nunn 1, Eli Tanner 1, Wollschleger 2).

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