By PAUL GOTHAM
DANSVILLE, N.Y. — Through the first 26 minutes of Wednesday’s Class C regional qualifier at Dansville High School, Landon Washburn had contributed eight points to the Honeoye offense, and the Bulldogs trailed by four.
With his team’s season hanging in the balance, Washburn delivered over the final six minutes of the game.
The sophomore guard scored 12 as Honeoye (23-1) closed on a 14-0 run to defeat York, 52-42.
“Shots weren’t falling the whole game,” he said. “I knew eventually I would hit something.”
Teammate Owen Cuba set a ball screen that allowed Washburn to step into a pull-up 3-pointer and give Honeoye a lead it did not surrender at 43-42.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM JENNIFER LAEMLEIN.
“Coach called for a screen on that play,” he said. “It was an in-rhythm three I had been practicing for the last month, probably. I can hit that shot when it comes time to do it.”
Washburn converted a pair of free throws with 2:43 left on the clock and followed with an and-one for a 50-42 lead with 1:16 to go. On the ensuing play, he turned a steal into a layup and put the game out of reach.
“It got me into rhythm,” he said of the go-ahead bucket. “I didn’t have anything before that. That made me feel good.”
With the win, Honeoye clinched a trip to the state quarterfinals.
“It’s amazing,” he said. “First time since ’85. It’s a great feeling.”
Late in the first half, York, which entered the postseason with more losses (11) than wins (9), looked poised to continue its storybook run.
Parker Bonefede, who fueled Monday’s comeback win, set up Ryan Brady for a basket, and then connected for three. Mason Parsons hit a baseline jumper. Yeriel Diaz-Pena finished a drive in the lane to cap a 9-0 run to give York a 21-14 lead and force a Honeoye timeout with 2:31 to go in the second quarter.
“They’re scary because they all can shoot,” said Honeoye head coach Robb Delisanti. “We saw that tonight.”
Brady hit from distance, and Diaz-Pena connected twice from the free throw line to give York its largest lead of the night at 28-19 early in the third quarter.
“Great effort by Honeoye tonight,” said York head coach Ed Orman Jr. “We had a lot of opportunities and didn’t capitalize. We had some opportunities to open the lead early and just failed to finish runs.”
In Monday’s win, Bonefede scored 11 of his game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter when York erased an eight-point deficit.
With Washburn covering him on Wednesday, Bonefede managed eight points and connected once from the floor over the final 16 minutes of play.
“He gets overlooked for his defense just because of the numbers he puts up on the offensive end,” Delisanti said of Washburn who averaged 25 points per game during the season and topped the career 1,000-point mark in February. “He is underrated on defense. He keeps people out of the lane, and he keeps his hands high. He’s tough to shoot over.”
Washburn led all scorers with 20. Owen Reynolds had 15. Cuba accounted for 12 points, and Braiden Schneider added 11.
Brady paced York with 10 points. Bonefede and Parsons had eight apiece.
A seven-seed in the recent Class C2 tournament, York (14-12) knocked off No. 2 Cuba-Rushford (61-50) and No. 3 Notre Dame-Batavia (71-68) before beating No. 4 Bolivar-Richburg (64-56) to claim the program’s second title in four years and fourth overall. The Golden Knights then rallied to defeat C1 champ Alexander in Monday’s sub-regional.
Delisanti and Orman, who both played for the schools they now coach, faced each other in the 1996 Class C quarterfinals. Honeoye won that game by the score of 77-72.
When Delisanti returned to his alma mater as head coach seven years ago, Orman was the first person he called.
“We talked on the phone for about an hour and a half, two hours. I don’t know if he remembers that, but I remember it. He gave me everything from what to do with the youth program going up to off-season workouts. I consider him a good friend. He’s a great guy and a great coach.”
Honeoye advances to face Section VI champion Westfield in the Far West Regional. In 1985, the Bulldogs defeated Forrestville (63-42) in the program’s only other state quarterfinal appearance.
“Pinch me,” Delisanti said of the opportunity.
This version of the Bulldogs includes a roster of 15 with seven sophomores and three ninth-graders.
“I knew we’d compete,” Delisanti said of his preseason expectations. “I knew we’d be good, but this is beyond my wildest dreams.”
A 5:45 p.m. tip-off is scheduled Saturday at Rush-Henrietta High School.
Westfield is led by returning First-Team All-State performer Carson Swanson who has scored 2,325 career points. He is 56 points shy of breaking the Western New York all-time scoring mark held by Jaden Harrison. Swanson has scored 30 or more points in six straight games heading into Saturday’s regional.
YORK (14-12)
Yeriel Diaz-Pena 2 2-2 6, Parker Bonefede 3 0-0 8, John Ayers 1 0-0 3, Ryan Brady 4 0-0 10, Mason Parsons 3 2-2 8, Zach Bauer 3 0-0 7, Aiden Koblanski 0 0-0 0, TOTALS 16 4-4 — 42
HONEOYE (23-1)
Dylan Washburn 1 2-2 4, Braiden Schneider 0 1-2 1, Owen Cuba 4 4-5 12, Owen Reynolds 5 0-0 15, Landon Washburn 8 3-3 20, Johnny Blair 0 0-0 0 TOTALS 18 10-12 — 52
YORK 12 11 15 4 — 42
HONEOYE 12 7 16 17 — 52
3-point goals: YORK 6 (Bonefede 2, Ayers 1, Brady 2, Bauer 1); HONEOYE 6 (Reynolds 5, Washburn 1).
Leave a Reply