Pickin' Splinters

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Balanced Kearney beats Vertus

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By PAUL GOTHAM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Jayden Capers led four in double figures with 29 points, and host Bishop Kearney (5-9) defeated Vertus Academy (8-7), 90-74 in Private-Parochial League action, Tuesday night.

The win was the fourth in the past five games for the Kings.

“We’re still figuring this thing out,” said first-year head coach John McCauley. “We’ve been in a lot of close games. Each game we’ve gotten a little better.”

Capers scored eight in the fourth including a basket to cap an 11-4 run to open the frame.

“That’s what we’ve been building toward,” McCauley said. “Late in games, the good teams get shots from the guys they want. It’s something that we’ve been trying to do.”

After watching a 25-point lead dwindle to single digits, Kearney converted on the first five possessions of the fourth quarter.

Ninth-grader Jaiden Pascoe finished in the lane. Alejandro Aguilar hit a floater and then followed with a 3-pointer. Maddox Volpe converted a pair from the free-throw line, and Capers drove the lane for two more and an 81-64 BK lead.

“To have that stretch in the fourth quarter to get shots from where we wanted them was important,” said McCauley – a graduate of the school. “Our execution has been a lot better.”

The Kings put the game away with four more conversions late in the quarter.

“A month ago, we wouldn’t have done that,” McCauley said commenting on his team’s improvement with late-game ball security. “We’ve lost games because we can’t hold the ball late.

“We got very deliberate possessions late in the game. We were taking shots with under 15 seconds on the shot clock. We didn’t take quick shots. That’s what we’ve been building toward. If you’re going to be a good team, you got to be able to handle those situations.”

Kearney needed every bit of the production to withstand the efforts of Vertus guard Terrance Marble who poured in a game-high 43 points.

“He’s unbelievable to watch,” said Vertus head coach Anthony Givens. “Once he gets going, he’s unbelievable.”

Marble scored 17 in the third quarter. The junior guard’s pull-up jumper from the free-throw line made it a 58-47 game. Six trips later down the floor, he connected twice from the free throw line to cut the deficit to nine at 63-54.

“Terrance has had a couple bad games,” Givens said. “We told him that we were going to need him tonight, so he really stepped up.”

Capers scored 12 in the second quarter when Kearney grabbed the largest lead of the game. The junior guard hit five from the floor and converted a pair of free throws during the stanza.

His rebound and putback pushed the Kearney lead to 20 at 34-14.

After Aguilar and Capers both connected on pair of free throws, Colby Speight scored on a wing drive for a 44-19 Kearney advantage.

“Any game you score 90 points is a good one,” McCauley said. “That’s tough to do. I’m proud of my guys for the growth we continue to show each game.

“Our experience, our failures are coming back now. We’re showing that we’ve been able to learn from those. We watch a lot of film, and we learn from it. Hopefully, we can take this game, watch this fourth quarter and figure out.”

Volpe added 19 points in the win. Aguilar had 16, and Noah Terry accounted for 11. Pascoe finished with nine points and Speight had six for BK.

Dah’mere Brown hit five 3-pointers and added 17 points for Vertus. Na’vant Harrison (6), Brian Holloway (2), Jeremiah Rey (2) and Denim Weaver (4) also scored for the Warriors.

Vertus travels to play at Edison on Friday. A 6:00 p.m. tip-off is scheduled.

Kearney makes the trip to Wilson Magnet for a 6:15 start time on Thursday.

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