By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Rayvon Higdon understood what was at stake.
The University Preparatory Charter School for Young Men (UPrep) basketball coach knew that in order for his squad to avenge an earlier loss, they would have to do that on the road at East High School – a place where few visitors escape with a win.
So when the Griffins built a double-digit lead only to watch that advantage evaporate, the first-year head coach wasn’t surprised.
But he also wasn’t going to let his squad give in to the situation.
“I told them that you know they (East) aren’t going away,” Higdon said after UPrep (9-4) closed on a 15-6 run to win 61-54, Wednesday night. “They weren’t going to quit. If we were up 50 points, they weren’t going to quit. We just had to have that mentality that we were going to finish the game.”
Gavin White scored six of his game-high 21 points during the decisive run.
“I wanted to attack the basket and force them to defend me,” the junior guard said. “We had to show that we had more energy than them.”
Trailing 48-46 with 5:08 remaining, White converted a pair of free throws to tie the game. Then two possessions later, teammate Ja’yvion Sampson completed an and-one to give the Griffins a lead they did not surrender at 51-49.
“We work on situations late in the game during practice,” White said. “Being down or in a close game and having to score then get a stop to get us in front.
“In practice we have a loudspeaker that sounds like the crowd. It’s like a real game. We play that during free throws, so we can get ready for what it’s going to be like in the game.”
White grabbed an offensive board and finished in the lane. James Willingham hit a pair from the free throw line and Demetrius Walker Jr. scored in traffic for a 57-53 lead with 41.7 seconds left in the game.
When the two teams met last month, East (6-4) came away with a 74-57 victory.
“East and UPrep haven’t played in like six, seven years,” Higdon said. “The buildup for that (earlier) game got a little big for them. East is always a big game. Everybody is always looking to get them. They are always the hunted.
“The game got out of hand for us. Ja’yvion got in foul trouble the first time through, but this game they played more settled. They weren’t rushing. They followed the game plan.”
The win was the fourth straight and sixth and seven games.
“It felt good,” Higdon said of the win. “As I saw plays develop and shots going up, I had confidence because they were following the gameplan.”
White finished with eight points, six rebounds and three steals. Walker had 11 points and seven rebounds. His bucket in the lane late in the second quarter gave UPrep its largest lead at 29-18.
Sampson added eight points, four rebounds and four assists. Javell Neal had seven points, 13 rebounds and two blocks.
East’s Zion Parson scored nine of his 13 points in the fourth quarter. The senior guard/forward, who picked up his third foul in the second quarter, nailed a corner 3 then converted a pair of free throws to tie the game at 46.
Xavier McDaniel stole a pass and then led Norman Simmons III for a layup and a 48-46 Eagles’ lead.
McDaniel had 15 points for East. Talhah Ali added nine.
For East, Wednesday’s game was the fourth in five days. The Eagles played this past weekend in the “Roundball Rumble” in Erie, Pennsylvania and defeated Victor on Tuesday.
East hosts Health Sciences of Buffalo’s Section VI next Monday.
UPrep travels to play at Greece Athena on the same night.
UPREP (61)
James Willingham 2 2-2 7, Ja’yvion Sampson 1 6-6 8, Gavin White 7 7-12 21 Demetrius Walker Jr. 5 0-0 11, Javell Neal 3 0-0 7, Mysuan White 3 1-2 7 TOTALS 21 16-22 — 61
EAST (54)
Norman Simmons III 3 0-0 6, Talhah Ali 4 0-0 9, Xavier McDaniel 6 2-3 15, Jalen Gray 0 1-2 1, Zion Parson 4 4-6 13, Jeremy Quinn 1 0-2 2, John Hart 1 0-0 2, Eric Jones 3 0-0 6 TOTALS 22 6-11 — 54
UPREP 19 12 14 16 — 61
EAST 10 14 15 15 — 54
3-point goals: UPREP 3 (Willingham 1, Walker 1, Neal 1); EAST 3 (Ali 1, McDaniel 1, Parson 1)
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