By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Four scored in double figures, and host World of Inquiry (12-8) capped its regular season with a 74-48 victory over Edison Tech (5-14) in Rochester City Athletic Conference (RCAC) action, Tuesday afternoon.
Any chance of the Griffins being unprepared because of the winter break were quickly dismissed. Devin Dillon and Marcus Norwood combined for 11 points as WOI opened a double-digit lead in the first quarter.
“It felt good to be locked in when we’re on a break,” said first-year head coach, Ellyette Clyburn. “The kids could have easily played nonchalantly, but they were ready. They know they have a mission. They know what they have to do, and they came and did it.”
Norwood connected on a pair of 3-pointers in the opening eight minutes. Dillon connected twice from the floor including once from distance to help pace WOI to an 18-7 lead. The Griffins built a 36-13 advantage heading into the locker room.
The win was the fourth in five games for WOI which ended the season with seven wins in its final nine games. Those losses coming to league foes from larger classifications: Class A East (63-59) and three days ago to Monroe, also in Class A, 62-52.
“We take it one game at a time,” Clyburn said. “If we keep that approach, I think we will be okay.”
Dillon finished with 14 points, but Clyburn sees the ninth-grade guard’s contributions beyond his ability to score.
“The best thing about Devin is he gets his teammates involved. From mid-season on, we typically have four or five guys in double figures. It’s because opposing defenses focus so much on Devin and everybody else gets loose. He makes the team better.”
Saaed Ervin accounted for nine of his team-high 15 points in the second half. Curtis Bell scored 10 of his 14 in the fourth quarter.
Norwood finished with 13 in the game.
Unofficially, World of Inquiry is the fifth-seed in Class C1. One year after winning the program’s first sectional title and advancing to the NYS semifinals in Class B, the Griffins will have to navigate a bracket that includes Lyons (No. 5 NYSSWA), Geneseo (No. 10 NYSSWA) and Gananda (No. 21 NYSSWA) when the postseason opens next week.
“We’ve been playing with intensity,” Clyburn said. “We keep that intensity and we will be hard to beat.”
Edison’s Felix Vazquez hit three 3-pointers and led scorers with 22 points.
Edison closes its regular season on Wednesday when the Inventors host Monroe for a 1:00 p.m. tipoff.
EDISON (5-14)
Royal Alexander 0 4-6 4, Karron Mack 2 2-4 6, Cyrus Bridgewater 3 0-0 6, Mike Byrd 3 0-0 6, Hussein Mohamed 1 0-0 2, Felix Vazquez 8 3-5 22, Izreal Ortiz 1 0-0 2 TOTALS: 17 9-15 — 48
WORLD OF INQUIRY (12-8)
Marcus Norwood 4 2-2 13, Richone Washington 3 2-4 9, Curtis Bell 4 5-7 14, Saeed Ervin 6 2-4 15, Devin Dillon 5 2-2 14, Courtney Wellington 1 0-0 2, Kenny Grimes 2 0-0 5, Junayde Dunn-Richardson 1 0-0 2 TOTALS: 26 13-19 — 74
EDISON TECH 7 6 19 16 — 48
WORLD OF INQUIRY 18 18 17 21 — 74
3-point goals: EDISON 3 (Vazquez 3); WORLD OF INQUIRY 9 (Norwood 3, Washington 1, Bell 1, Ervin 1, Dillon 2, Grimes 1).
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