By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The significance of Wednesday’s win was not lost on John Geglia.
The 14th-year head coach had been on the sideline when Early College boys’ basketball won back-to-back Section V Class C1 titles in 2015 and 2016. A year later, the Cobras advanced to the Class B semifinals with a 65-50 victory over Hornell. That team lost in the next round.
Since then, Geglia’s squad has gone from chasing championships to searching for wins, any wins.
While advancing in the Class B1 bracket with Wednesday’s first-round victory, Geglia’s squad ended a nine-season drought.
“It’s been some rough years,” he said after the fifth-seeded Cobras defeated No. 12 Penn Yan, 61-43. “These kids have pieced it together and really persevered. Last year was really rough.”
How rough?
Over the past four seasons, EC had a combined record of 4 wins and 80 losses.
“Most of those losses were games we didn’t have a chance to win.”
They will take the floor on Friday in the quarterfinals with a current ledger of 11 triumphs against 10 defeats.
“We’re not all the way back, but it’s nice to have some success. It’s been a while.”
Da’marion Griffin and Sam Washington scored 16 apiece to lead the offense. Cincere Moxley-Studymine added 11, and Tyrell Grant had 10 including eight in the second half to help the Cobras pull away from a six-point game at halftime.
“We were nervous; the pressure of the moment showed in the first half,” Geglia said. “In the locker room (at halftime), I said ‘We got it out of our system.’ We had some nerves, some jitters. We turned the ball over too much. We missed a bunch of layups.
“I attributed that to the players had never been in this kind of situation where we were expected to win a sectional game. We had some nerves, some jitters due to that.”
A three from Griffin gave the Cobras their first double-digit lead of the night midway through the third quarter at 31-21.
“We knew if we went out and defended and settled down on offense, those layups were going to start going down, those threes were going to go down. Once you see those go down, the game’s going to get a lot more fun.”
With less than two minutes left in the contest, Early College was leading by 15 when Griffin sparked the game-clinching play.
“That play embodied the personality of our team,” Geglia said. “We have nights where we go out and shoot it well and things come a little easier than it did tonight. We didn’t shoot it great tonight. We struggle with teams that are larger than us, and everybody’s bigger than us. So we’ve had to fight. We’ve had to learn how to scrap and fight.”
An errant Penn Yan pass crossed half-court. Instead of settling for possession after a back-court violation, Griffin chased down the loose ball. The junior guard went to the floor and while avoiding a traveling violation attempted to set up Washington for a bucket.
“The clock is still running, so I got to keep hustling,” Griffin said. “Coach always tells me to get on the floor and dive for loose balls.”
Penn Yan’s Miles Ditzell prevented a clear passing lane and with another defender in pursuit, Washington, in the moment, was forced to leave his feet to retrieve Griffin’s pass. He made the ensuing play from his backside.
“It’s always about making the right play,” Griffin said. “I’m always about making the right play.”
Moxley-Studymine finished the sequence with an and-one.
Had it unfolded differently, Washington at 6-foot-2 may have grabbed the pass and scored on a dunk. That usually brings the crowd to its feet and starts the celebration. This play, though, it was a fitting exclamation point for the Cobras.
“We’ve had to scratch and claw, and that’s what they do right to the end,” Geglia said. “I was proud of that play. I was proud of all the hustle.
“That hustle play symbolizes how we want to go out and play, how we have to play because of our size and how we match-up with other teams.”
A year ago, EC lost to Wellsville 86-32 in first-round action and finished 1-20.
The Rochester City Athletic Conference (RCAC) member chose to play an independent schedule this season.
“We went independent because we wanted to have some success,” Geglia said. “It’s hard to grow, it’s hard to learn basketball when you’re not in these type of situations. It’s been a long road to rebuild this.”
Early College will travel to face No. 4 Waterloo on Saturday. It’s not Bryan Harrell leading the Cobras to those two titles in ’15 and ’16, but for this group Wednesday’s win was a step forward.
“Winning 11 games this year and one in sectionals, is a good feeling,” Geglia said.
PENN YAN (2-19) 43
Cody Jensen 0 0-0 0, Ethan Robinson 4 2-3 11, Spencer Jensen 0 0-0 0, Ethan Darchangelo 0 0-0 0, Aidan Green 1 0-0 2, Tyler Gilbert 2 1-4 5, Miles Ditzell 10 3-10 23, Lucas Bacher 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 18 6-17 — 43
EARLY COLLEGE (11-10) 61
Tyrell Grant 4 2-6 10, Nay’yir Ortiz 1 0-0 2, Da’marion Griffin 7 0-0 16, Sam Washington 6 1-2 16, Dayvon Willams 0 0-0 0, Cincere Moxley-Studymine 3 5-8 11, Zion Shields 0 0-2 0, K’vion Smith 0 2-2 2, Seh’maje Lester 1 0-0 2, Frank Lewis 0 0-0 0 TOTALS 21 10-22 — 61
PENN YAN 9 7 12 14 — 43
EARLY COLLEGE 12 10 14 25 — 61
3-point goals: PENN YAN 1 (Robinson 1); EARLY COLLEGE 5 (Griffin 2, Washington 3).
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