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Green, Eastridge rally to beat Mendon

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Eastridge head coach Charrisse Everett talks to the Lancers during a timeout, Tuesday night. Eastridge defeated Pittsford Mendon, 64-60. (Photo: Paul Gotham)

By PAUL GOTHAM

IRONDEQUOIT, N.Y. — Eastridge girls’ basketball stared down a halftime deficit Tuesday night and came out with an undefeated record intact.

This wasn’t any ordinary rally. No, this comeback took place against a Pittsford Mendon program that has won a Section V record 17 titles. The last time these two teams met, Mendon dispatched Eastridge in the first round of the 2023 Class A playoffs.

So when the Lancers, with an offense built to score in the open court, took a double-digit lead in the first quarter and then watched that advantage evaporate, it looked like another victory for the Vikings.

That is until Aaliviah Green decided to have the final say.

Green scored nine of her game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter, and host Eastridge (4-0) rallied to defeat Pittsford Mendon (4-1), 64-60.

“Our cheer at the end of halftime before we came out of the locker room was ‘finish,'” said second-year head coach Charrisse Everett. “Finish the game, and that is what we did. This is the first time that they’ve ever done that against Mendon.”

Green gave Eastridge a lead it did not surrender at 54-53 when the ninth-grade guard connected on a pull-jumper off the glass with 4:03 remaining in the game.

“Everybody has told her to shoot,” Everett said. “If it’s there, shoot. There have been some games where she took a shot that she didn’t need to take, but other than that we’ve told her to shoot. We’ve spent a lot of time with her coming off the screen, finding her spot and being ready. We’ve been working on it, and it shows.”

To complete the victory, Eastridge needed to convert against Mendon’s defense that was intent on deciding the contest in the half court.

“Our game is fast-paced, upbeat,” Everett said. “This whole week in practice I’ve been saying if they go zone, they’re trying to slow us down. Now we got to take advantage of them going zone, and that’s what we worked on.”

Green connected on a pair of corner threes in the second half to help loosen Mendon’s defense.

Aaliviah Green scored nine of her game-high 29 points in the fourth quarter to lead Eastridge. (Photo: Paul Gotham)

Green’s second triple of the half came less than two minutes into the fourth quarter and gave Eastridge its first lead after the break. She slipped along the baseline, took a pass from teammate Alyssa Cowart and connected from the left corner.

“I was open, so I had to take that shot,” she said. “That gave us encouragement to keep playing.”

That was the first of three lead changes to open the final stanza.

Mendon’s Natalie Mai’s made it a 53-52 game with a three-ball of her own.

Next trip down the floor, Green gave Eastridge the lead for good.

“We just kept encouraging each other,” Green said. “Every time they scored, we just kept our heads up. Once we had the lead, we just kept going.”

Cowart grabbed the game’s opening tip and scored on a layup. The sophomore guard followed with her first of two steal and conversion opportunities of the opening quarter. Green connected on a 3-pointer. By the time Tierra-Nicole Green scored back-to-back buckets, Eastridge had the largest lead of the night at 20-10.

Mai found the range from distance twice in the second quarter as Mendon closed the half on a 21-9 run to take a 37-33 lead into the break. Mai gave Mendon its largest lead at 41-35 early in the third quarter.

“In the locker room at halftime, I told them have they have never been down by four to Mendon,” Everett said. “It’s always been down by more. That told them right now, you can play with them. We are at home. We are only down by four. The first half is over. We adjusted, and we finished.”

Mai finished with 23 points to pace three in double figures for Mendon. Eva Dixon had 14 and Sarah Hanfland, 11. Mendon played without starting guard Gabby Esposito.

Eastridge’s Madyson Fizer grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds. Cowart collected eight steals, six assists and five rebounds to go with a 13-point performance. Aaliviah Green had six steals.

PITTSFORD MENDON (4-1)
Sarah Hanfland 4 3-4 11, Eva Dixon 5 3-6 14, Leena Mobeen 1 0-0 2, Natalie Mai 8 4-8 23, Kate Crowley 2 0-0 4, Lilly Larimer 1 0-0 2, Nora Graff 0 0-0 0, Camryn Hernick 1 0-0 2, Kendall Glantz 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 23 10-18 — 60

EASTRIDGE (4-0)
Qa’Mariona Greene 0 0-2 0, Alyssa Cowart 6 0-2 13, Madyson Fizer 1 2-4 4, Tierra-Nicole Green 3 1-2 7, Ada Krupa 5 0-0 11, Aaliviah Green 11 3-4 29 TOTALS 26 6-14 — 64

PITTSFORD MENDON 12 25 8 15 — 60
EASTRIDGE 20 13 10 21 — 64

3-point goals PITTSFORD MENDON 4 (Mai 3, Dixon 1); EASTRIDGE 6 (Cowart 1, Krupa 1, Aaliviah Green 4).


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Comments

  1. Glendaye Waller says

    Wonderful to see young people loving the game such as myself when I was in high school stay strong aalivia Green and the rest of the Lancers good game Pittsford Mendon.

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