By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Eli Tanner wondered if he left behind his opportunity for a sectional championship on hardwood when he transferred in middle school.
Jordan Koch was looking for redemption from his playing days.
The star player and head coach had their wishes fulfilled Saturday morning on Les Harrison Court at Blue Cross Arena at the Rochester War Memorial.
Tanner garnered MVP honors, and No. 2 East Rochester rallied to claim the 2025 Section V Class B title with a 57-56 victory over reigning champion and top seed, Avon.
Tanner shrugged off early foul trouble and scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the third quarter when the Bombers erased a halftime deficit.
“In the first half, I knew I under-performed; I knew I didn’t play to my standard,” he said. “I got into foul trouble early. Coming into the second half, I had a lot of time to think, to reflect.”
Trailing by seven at 33-26, Tanner scored the next nine ER points to make it a one-possession game.
“I had to come out, put my team on my back. I didn’t need to do too much, but I needed to do enough to get my team over the finish line.”
It wasn’t so much what Tanner as it was how he did it. The senior guard did his work off the dribble, getting in the lane and drawing contact.
He converted pairs of free throws on back-to-back possessions and then followed that with an and-one to make it a 37-35 game with Avon in the lead.
“In the first half when he was in foul trouble, he stayed in the game mentally,” Koch said. “He was like I need to get to the rim and impose my will and make their guards defend me.”
“We’re a physical team,” Koch said. “When we’re not hitting shots, we know when we’re getting to the rim and rebounding, we’ll put pressure on opposing teams.
Jordan Nunn hit a 3-pointer to give ER a 44-42 lead. Tanner followed with a layup in transition to close the third-quarter scoring and opened the fourth with a spin move along the right side of the lane and a finish at the rim for a 48-41 ER advantage.
“He’s one of the strongest, most physical guards in Section V,” Koch said of Tanner. “I think he’s very underrated, so I hope everybody was watching today.”
Avon (18-5) entered play averaging 67 points per game and had wins over a pair of Class AAA teams in Aquinas and UPrep on its résumé.
ER (20-3) held the Riverhawks to one field goal and forced four turnovers over the final four minutes of the third.
“I think we play defense unlike any team in Section V,” Tanner said. “Lots of teams in Section V have a good defense, but not like our defense. It’s just dawgs hustling all around the court. Every where we’re flying around.”
Tanner transferred from Wellsville Central for his seventh grade year and left behind a program that went on to win a title.
“I was like, man if I had stayed, I would have had a brick. I was thinking I had to get a brick to ER. I had to justify moving out here.
“It’s unreal to do it with all my brothers. To bring it home to ER is something special.”
Koch played at East Rochester when the Bombers lost in back-to-back sectional championship games in 2005 and 2006.
“We’ve won it since then, but being from ER and knowing how much basketball means to that community, it’s more than anything I could ask for.
“As a coach, to bring it back and lead a great group of kids like this to the block, it means a lot.”
Avon was making its sixth straight appearance in the finals and looking for back-to-back championships.
Trevor Stroud hit a 3-pointer with 36.3 seconds remaining to give the Riverhawks a 56-55 lead.
“Across the board they have all five guys,” Avon head coach Rob Fries said of ER. “I said before the game, guys from East Rochester are all tough.
“I thought we had a few chances early on to put some distance between us and them. They had foul trouble early and got into the locker room. It felt like we should have been up by at least 10.”
Stroud led Avon with 18 points.
Tanner converted two free throws with 13.4 seconds remaining to win the game.
Avon’s Josh Harter and Brody McDowell both fouled out in the final minute of play.
Avon had a chance for a game-winning shot but missed on the opportunity.
East Rochester will play either World of Inquiry or Waterloo in the Class B regional qualifier.
Tanner was part the ER boys’ soccer team that won sectionals last fall.
Leave a Reply