by TYLER HATHAWAY
HONEOYE FALLS, N.Y– Pittsford Mendon (12-2) led for all but two minutes as Eva Dixon scored 20 points and Leena Mobeen added 15 more to help lift the Vikings to a 54-35 win over Honeoye Falls-Lima on Friday night. The pair combined for 22 of Pittsford Mendon’s 26 second-half points and helped the visiting Vikings close the game on a 21-7 run.
The win avenged a loss to the Cougars on Pittsford Mendon’s home hardwood back in mid-December.
“They got us the first time,” head coach Todd Julien explained after the game. “(Tonight) it took a lot better effort and execution defensively.”
It’s the ninth straight victory for a Pittsford Mendon squad that entered Friday in second place in the Section V Class AA2 standings.
“We all play for each other, and we all have a love for the game, so we push each other every day in practice,” Dixon said was driving the success. “We just try and get better after every game, and just play for each other, which has made it easier to come together and win games.”
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“I think we’ve made a big leap defensively, and we’ve learned that we’re not very big,” said Julien of the win streak. “Learning how to play small offensively and defensively. It’s taken a while, but we’re starting to take advantage of being small.”
Leading 13-11 after the first quarter, Pittsford Mendon held Honeoye Falls-Lima to just eight made field goals in the final three quarters, and five points in the fourth quarter. Coach Julien’s key to the game was to slow down Honeoye Falls-Lima forward Shaye Angelo, who finished with 21 points.
“I think we got better defensively as the game went on,” Julien explained. ”The kids recognized what they (Honeoye Falls-Lima) were running and where they needed to help on Shaye (Angelo). You have to fight through a lot of ball screens guarding her. So we had high help on the back of the ball screen, allowing the main defender to kind of catch up there , and as the game wore on, we defended at our best in the fourth quarter.”
Mobeen was tasked with doing everything she could to slow the senior wing down.
“We put Leena (Mobeen) on one of the best players in Section V, and she stuck to her, and made her really work to get open shots,” said Julien. “I think that was the difference.”
“We obviously had to rebound well, so they didn’t get extra shots,” Mobeen said about the Vikings’ plan on defense. “But especially being able to help, because Shaye Angelo is an amazing shooter and amazing driver. We needed to make sure that we were in help defense, getting up on the ball, and helping each other by talking defensively. “
The Vikings opened the second quarter on fire. Lillian Larimer had a lay-up and connected on a jumper, Mobeen buried a three-pointer, and Ella Pickels knocked down two threes of her own, totaling a 13-2 run that helped Pittsford Mendon seize control of the game. Good ball movement was crucial for the Vikings against Honeoye Falls-Lima’s zone defense.
“I think by having good ball movement we can make teams scramble, and then we can take them off the dribble, opening up other people, which is really vital,” Dixon explained. “If you’re just gonna dribble around, it’s not helping anyone on the court. So things like dribble drives, good passes, backdoor cuts, and off-ball screens really help us.”
“I think it definitely helped us,” said Mobeen about the run. ”Our mindset improved, like it was pushing us to hustle more on defense, to get those stops, and get some more shots.”
Dixon, a freshman, and Mobeen, a sophomore, make up the back court of a starting lineup that houses three seniors, but lacked starting experience entering this season.
“The older girls help them (Dixon and Mobeen) out tremendously,” Julien said about his starting lineup. “We have two younger kids for our guards but they’re really good for their age. And guards at the high school level are everything. If you got two like we do, it’s a real luxury. The older kids have been in our program for a long time, and they’re playing some great basketball, but they are all new to being starters.”
Dixon scored nine straight points to open the fourth quarter for the Vikings. Mobeen connected three times from beyond the three-point line.
Addy Stewart scored six points. Pickels finished with six points, while Larimer finished with four. Kendall Glantz had two points, and Camryn Hernick added a point.
For Honeoye Falls-Lima (10-4), Kamryn Burdett and Evelyn O’Dell each supplied five points. Sarah Smith had four points.
The Vikings have six games left over the next two and a half weeks prior to sectionals starting in late February.
“We have to continue to learn how to play small together,” Julien said is the most important thing down the stretch of the season. “We also have to battle to not be in a big rebound deficit, and we’re in a pretty big rebound deficit at halftime today, but I think we cleaned it up in the second half. But that’s the key for us. If we can hold our own on the glass, then we’ll be in a good place.”
Pittsford Mendon hosts Irondequoit on Tuesday night.
Honeoye Falls-Lima also plays next on Tuesday, and will be at home to play Eastridge.
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