Jack Leasure Shooting and Skills Camp State Semifinal Preview: Honeoye looks to knock off reigning champ, Moravia

One school is making its second state semifinal appearance in program history and first in four decades. The other has reached this point the past two seasons and is looking to continue its chase for a second consecutive state title. Here’s the breakdown:

HONEOYE BULLDOGS
(24-1/Finger Lakes West/No. 3 NYSSWA)
vs.
MORAVIA BLUE DEVILS
(21-1/Interscholastic Athletic Conference Small North/No. 2 NYSSWA)
Friday, Visions Veterans Memorial Arena, Binghamton 3:15 p.m.

How they arrived here: Honeoye opened up postseason play with a 67-48 victory over Mount Morris and then went on to beat Charles G. Finney (60-50) and South Seneca (54-27) to capture the C3 title. Honeoye topped York (52-42) to clinch a spot the state quarterfinals and beat Section VI champion Westfield (64-60) to reach Friday’s state semifinal. Moravia opened the postseason with a win over Southern Cayuga (78-54) before beating Notre Dame-Elmira (73-40) and Delhi (57-47 to claim the Section IV title. The Blue Devils then defeated Cooperstown (III), 55-48 to reach Friday’s showdown.

Scoring offense: Honeoye (69.6), Moravia (69.2)

Scoring defense: Honeoye (49.5), Moravia (47.4)

Trends: Both of these teams lost their first games of the season and now have 20-plus game winning streaks heading into Friday’s matchup. Moravia has held its last 10 opponents to 54 points or fewer. Honeoye has been held under 54 points once in the past 12 games.

Honeoye: Landon Washburn So. G (25.9 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 3.4 APG); Owen Cuba Sr. F (12.1 PPG, 11.0 RPG); Dylan Washburn So. G (10.5 PPG); Owen Reynolds Sr. G (10.4 PPG, 3.0 APG); Braiden Schneider So. G/F (7.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG).

Moravia: Joe Baylor Sr.; Jairen Francis So.; Riley Jones Sr.; Eli Landis Jr.; Dillon Palmer So.; Zach Szachta Jr.

Coaches: Robb Delisanti (Honeoye), Todd Mulvaney (Moravia)

History 101: Honeoye last reached the state semifinals in 1985 when the Bulldogs lost to Bishop Cunningham, 68-64. Current Nazareth University head coach Kevin Broderick led that Bishop Cunningham squad to a state title. Current Honeoye head coach Robb Delisanti was in attendance for that game. Moravia is 2-4 in state semifinal games with the other win coming in 2017 when the Blue Devils won the NYS Class C title.

What’s at stake: A spot in Saturday’s championship game against either Tuckahoe (I) or Berne-Knox-Westerlo (II).