By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Xavier Smith scored 19 of his game-high 28 points after halftime, and No. 8 Greece Arcadia rallied to defeat No. 9 Wilson Magnet, 75-71 in overtime in Section V Class AA2 first-round action, Wednesday night.
After connecting from the floor three times over the first two quarters, Smith hit on three consecutive possessions early in the third. The senior forward then converted on 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 44.
“They (Wilson) were speeding us up in the first half,” said Arcadia head coach Al Nash. “We couldn’t really get into our sets. Second half we came out with the intention of slowing down a little bit and giving him an opportunity to flash to open spots.”
Smith used a spin move in the low post to get to the basket for a layup. He followed with a drive and finish from the wing before connecting on a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer at the top of the key.
Xavier Smith spin cycle (commentary does not belong to me 😀). @GCSDATathletics pic.twitter.com/dDAJK7NyVo
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2025
Xavier Smith, and-one, gives @GCSDATathletics a 49-48 lead. pic.twitter.com/RLjXrEEMsq
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2025
Xavier Wilson gives @GCSDATathletics a 71-70 lead with 15.7 remaining pic.twitter.com/bdtu1pmFAr
— Paul Gotham (@PickinSplinters) February 27, 2025
In a game that had eight lead changes over the last 12 minutes of play, Smith’s drive and layup with 15.7 seconds remaining in overtime gave Arcadia a 71-70 lead. The Titans did not trail again.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JENNIFER LAEMLEIN.
Drake Sapp’s free throw with 1.1 seconds remaining proved to be the game winner.
Sapp’s defense provided the difference late in the fourth quarter.
With Arcadia trailing 66-64 with less than two minutes remaining in regulation, Wilson’s Aaron Riley got into the lane off the dribble and connected on a floater. The basket, though, was waved after Sapp drew a charge on the play.
“That was a gamechanger,” Nash said. “It’s like a blocked shot or a dunk.”
Two trips down the floor later, Sapp stole an inbound pass and finished a layup to tie the game.
Instead of Wilson getting a two-possession lead off Riley’s bucket, Sapp kept the Titans within striking distance.
“Taking a charge is big,” Nash said. “We’ve been preaching that. I’ve got this hard hat for the guy who does all the blue-collar stuff. That’s one of those blue-collar plays. For him to step in as a guard, that kid was a little bit bigger, and take that in the chest was an outstanding play for us. It was a momentum changer for sure.”
Sapp finished with 20 points and six rebounds. Jahan Wilson added 14 in the win. Smith also grabbed nine rebounds.
Dominic Session (6), Amir Brown (3) and Denzel Medlock (4) also scored for Arcadia.
Ibrahim Hakizamana led Wilson (4-17) with 20 points. The senior guard’s 3-pointer staked the Wildcats to a 25-18 lead midway through the second quarter – the largest advantage held by either team in the contest. Teammate Jesse Lynn had 19 points. Riley (8), Darius Harris (2), Linus Flood (5), Josh Ellington (2) and Joe Baldrich (2) also scored for Wilson.
Arcadia (6-15) will face top-seeded Greece Athena in the quarterfinals.
The postseason win was the first for the Titan boys’ basketball program since a 55-41 win over Spencerport in the first round of the 2017 Class A1 playoffs.
“For Arcadia to get a win in sectionals is a building block for our future,” said Nash in his second year at the helm. “These guys have put in a lot of work. We kept going after the season last year. We took about five weeks off and then did a little AAU work as a team. We tried to put in some stuff about character and culture. Those are the things we’re trying to build here. Tonight showed that we’re going to start fighting.”
Arcadia’s last three points of the game came at the free throw line as a result of technical fouls issued to Wilson. The first infraction was the result of Wilson attempting to take a timeout after having exhausted its official allotment of requested breaks in the action.
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