By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — In a season of firsts, World of Inquiry added another Tuesday on the hardwood at Gates-Chili High School.
Devin Dillon poured in a career-high 21 points. Jaedon Adams-Griffin added 14 more and the Griffins went wire-to-wire in a 61-52 victory over East Rochester.
Three days after winning the program’s first sectional title, World of Inquiry clinched its inaugural trip to the state tournament.
Dillon, an eighth-grader who was promoted to varsity from JV on January 28th, started his scoring for the night with a rebound and putback. He followed with 3-pointers on the next three possessions to give the Griffins a 13-0 lead.
“He prepared for this moment,” said World of Inquiry head coach Willie Mason. “He’s a gym rat. He loves being in the gym. He would stay there all night if you allowed him. You can’t coach that. You cannot coach that.”
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World of Inquiry started on a 16-0 run and took a 30-16 lead into halftime.
East Rochester cut the lead to four at 30-26 midway through the third.
“Our guys stayed the course,” Mason said. “We know that basketball is a game of runs and that sooner or later a team is going to make a run.
“We just dug in a little deeper and tweaked our defense just a little bit to make them have to think quicker.”
Adams-Griffin, who scored his 1,000th point in the first game of the season, responded with a bucket in the lane, an and-one and a pull-up jumper as the Griffins ran their lead to 13 at 42-29.
“Mr. Reliable,” Mason said if the senior guard. “He’s been my guy for four years, and I trust him with everything that I got. I know when the game is on the line, I know what Jaedon is made of. He has proven it the last four years.”
East Rochester (20-4) was coming off winning its first sectional title in more than a decade. The Bombers found themselves with a double-digit deficit less than three minutes into the contest.
“We’re pretty good at digging ourselves a hole in the first quarter,” said ER head coach Jordan Koch. “I don’t what it is, but I know my guys are going to fight no matter what until the end. I think people saw that tonight.”
Judah Tanner led four in double figures with 13 points. Tanner scored five in the third quarter as the Bombers tried to keep pace.
“We pressed a little bit early,” Koch said. “Trying to do too much by ourselves. We know we’re a good team. Once we started playing together like we normally do, we were able to come back.”
Justice Allen, Jordan Nunn and Eli Tanner scored 10 apiece for ER.
Dillon finished with six 3-pointers in the win. Kanaz Linder added nine points. Junayde Dunn-Richardson had seven, and Curtis Bell, six.
World of Inquiry will face Section VI champion Akron in the Class B Far West Regional. A 5:30 pm tip-off is scheduled Friday at Gates Chili High School.
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