By PAUL GOTHAM
MENDON, N.Y. — Dan Judd’s Pittsford Sutherland squad entered action Friday night night scoring 65 points per game. The No. 2 team in the state had counted 14 double-digit margins among its 17 victories.
And after seven minutes of play, the Knights were staring at a 13-0 deficit.
That’s right. Seven minutes of game time without a single point. Really it was more like seven and a half minutes.
Not a layup. Not a putback. Not a steal and conversion at the other end of the floor. Not a single free throw.
Nothing.
To make matters worse, the usually composed Knights had committed 10 turnovers.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM STEVEN TWARDZIK.
So when Lucy Bush sank a 3-pointer late in the first quarter, the points on the board seemed secondary to the realization that the ball actually could go through the net.
Bush finished the night as one of three in double figures as Sutherland (18-1) endured the roughest of patches to sweep the regular season series with crosstown rival Pittsford Mendon (15-4), 53-44.
“It was great to finally break the ice for us,” the junior guard said. “We just needed some momentum going into the second quarter.”
Some momentum and some old-fashioned stick-to-itiveness.
“The start was pretty rough,” Judd said. “It could have been 20-nothing. We weathered that and just getting that first basket got the lid off it.
“We made a couple of little adjustments at halftime. The kids really bought into what we wanted to do. I’m really proud of them for hanging in there. This team has a lot of resilience.”
Taylor Hamilton’s first of three triples on the night gave Sutherland a lead it did not surrender at 25-24.
“At first it was frustrating, but it was rewarding to see us respond that way,” Judd said. “I think we were way amped-up early. We were just too hyped. A lot of those turnovers were just forcing things. We weren’t settled at all. Give Mendon credit. Their defense is really, really good. They took us out of what we wanted to do and made us uncomfortable.”
Petra Hunt best represented Sutherland’s struggles and subsequent ability to adapt.
A year ago, Hunt set a program-mark with eight 3-pointers in the Class A semifinals. On Friday night, the junior struggled to find any semblance of her shooting stroke from the perimeter and then was called for a charge early in the second quarter when she tried to get going off the dribble.
But it was Hunt who sank a pair of free throws early in the third and gave Sutherland its first lead of the night at 19-18. Later in the quarter, she converted her second of three and-ones to make it a 30-24 game.
She finished with a team-high 19 points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
“She’s going to go down with the chambers empty,” said Judd referring to the junior guard/forward’s willingness to use all of her artillery to win. “That’s the growth in her game. When it’s gotten tough like that, she’s found a way to score. She’s going to stay aggressive offensively.”
Bush’s trey early in the fourth made it a 39-30 game.
Mendon responded and scored the next six. Camryn Hernick’s bucket cut the deficit to three at 39-36. It was still a three-point game at 41-38 when Eva Dixon finished in the lane.
Back-to-back threes from Hamilton fueled the Knights as Sutherland doubled up their rivals with a 12-6 run to close out the win.
“We knew they were going to give us their best shot because we beat them the first time,” Bush said. “We just had to keep our composure. We had to play our game that we’ve been playing all year.”
Hamilton scored 14 in the win. Bush had 11 points along with seven rebounds and five assists.
Dixon scored six of her game-high 23 points in the first quarter to stake Mendon to a 13-3 lead. The Vikings had an 18-14 advantage heading into halftime. Leena Mobeen added 13 for Mendon.
Mendon hosts Churchville-Chili for its regular season finale. A 5:30 p.m. start time is slated.
Sutherland welcomes Irondequoit on Tuesday in its last game before sectionals. A 6:00 p.m. tip-off is scheduled.
Post-season play begins on Tuesday, February 24th.
PITTSFORD SUTHERLAND (18-1)
Peyton Hamilton 0 0-0 0, Taylor Hamilton 5 1-2 14, Lucy Bush 4 1-2 11, Sydney Bryant 1 0-0 3, Gabby Lyons 0 0-0 0, Maddie Littlefiedl 2 0-0 4, Petra Hunt 7 5-5 19, Kenzie Dermody 1 0-0 2, Avery Hamilton 0 0-0 0 TOTALS 20 7-9 — 53
PITTSFORD MENDON (15-4)
Eva Dixon 9 5-6 23, Leena Mobeen 6 0-0 13, Lillian Larimer 1 0-1 2, Camryn Hernick 2 0-0 4, Ella Pickels 1 0-0 2, Kendall Glantz 0 0-0 0, Addy Stewart 0 0-0 0 TOTALS 19 5-7 — 44
PITTSFORD SUTHERLAND 3 11 22 17 — 53
PITTSFORD MENDON 13 5 10 16 — 44
3-point goals: SUTHERLAND 6 (T. Hamilton 3, Bush 2, Bryant 1); MENDON 1 (Mobeen 1).
Leave a Reply