Pickin' Splinters

Rochester's Independent Sports Source

Late run carries East past World of Inquiry

by Leave a Comment

By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Micah Johnson scored 11 straight during a decisive second-half run as host East High defeated World of Inquiry, 72-46 in Rochester City Athletic Conference (RCAC) action on Tuesday.

Johnson connected on his first of three 3-pointers during a two-minute span as the Eagles stretched a four-point lead to 15.

“When he shoots the ball well, obviously, we’re playing better,” said East High head coach Darrell Barley. “The rest started to feed off what he was doing.”

Trailing 37-36 late in the third quarter, Zion Parson hit a baseline jumper to give East a lead it did not surrender. Markell Kingston-Johnson converted 1-of-2 free throws next time down the floor before Tyler Benjamin finished in the lane for a 41-37 lead.

Johnson took over from there.

For Barley, it was a matter of taking advantage of the same chances that the Eagles had earlier in the game.

“In the first half, we got a bunch of steals and scoring opportunities,” he said. “We missed so many layups and free throws. It was the same thing in the (recent) School of the Arts game, we started off slow. We were up two or three at halftime. Then we turned it up.”

Kingston-Johnson hit two more from the free throw line to cap what was an 18-0 run.

Barley credited the play of sophomore Norman Simmons III for sparking the Eagles.

“He played really well. He got after the ball and had some key blocks.”

With the win, East improved to 5-1 on the season.

“We’re a little deeper this year,” Barley said. “I’m expecting great things out of all of these guys. Basketball is a game of confidence. We just got to stay confident.”

The loss was the first of the year for World of Inquiry (8-1), ranked No. 1 in the New York State Sportswriters Association (NYSSWA) Class B poll.

“This is a team (East) that we knew that if we were going to have any type of success, we would have to go through them,” said World of Inquiry head coach, Willie Mason. “We were right there. We came up short. We know we belong.”

Trailing by as many as nine points early in the second quarter, WOI closed the first half on a 12-6 run to make it a one-possession game at 27-24 with East leading heading into the locker room.

Jaedon Adams-Griffin found Curtis Bell ahead of the defense for a layup to tie the game at 35 early in the third. Three possessions later, Bell finished in the lane for a 37-36 Griffins lead.

“We fought and we battled,” Mason said. “We had guys step up.”

Bell finished with a team-high 14 points. Adams-Griffin had 13 for WOI.

“Willie is doing a great job with the team he has,” Barley said. “They’re tough. They’re physical.”

Kesean Leonard had 18 points for East. Kingston-Johnson scored 10.

World of Inquiry, which was playing its second game in as many nights, hosts Penn Yan on Thursday. A 6:00 p.m. tip-off is scheduled.

East welcomes Erie (PA) for a 4 p.m. start on Saturday.

WORLD OF INQUIRY
Marcus Norwood 2 0-0 6, Kanaz Linder 1 1-3 3, Richone Washington 0 0-0 0, Jaedon Adams-Griffin 3 5-6 13, Junayde Richardson 1 2-4 4, Curtis Bell 5 3-6 14, Jay’vion Owens 1 0-0 3, Jayvion Phillips 1 0-0 3 TOTALS 14 11-19 — 46

EAST HIGH
Zion Parson 3 2-2 8, Micah Breedlove-Johnson 5 6-6 20, Kesean Leonard 6 5-9 18, Sha’vion Jones 3 0-0 6, Percy Robinson 0 0-0 0, Markell Kingston-Johnson 3 4-6 10, Tyler Benjamin 1 0-1 2, Norman Simmons III 2 1-2 6, Jhayden Holmes 0 2-2 2, Timothy Reed 0 0-2 0 TOTALS 23 20-30 — 72

WORLD OF INQUIRY 11 13 13 9 — 46
EAST HIGH 15 12 19 26 — 72

3-point goals: WORLD OF INQUIRY 7 (Norwood 2, Adams-Griffin 2, Bell 1, Owens 1, Phillips 1); EAST HIGH 6 (Johnson 4, Leonard 1, Simmons 1).

Player ejections: Jhayden Holmes (East), unsportsmanlike conduct 6:29 second quarter; Kanaz Linder (World of Inquiry), unsportsmanlike conduct, 6:29 second quarter.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *