BCANY Championship Sunday Recap

JOHNSON CITY, NY - This weekend at the BCANY Summer Hoops Festival didn't start out the way the Rochester team from Section 5 would have liked. They fell in their opener to the Hudson Valley squad from Section 1, but they then reeled off wins in there final two pool play games to finish second in their pool and advance to Sunday's semifinals.

In the semifinals they handily took down a previously unbeaten Suffolk County team from Section 11, and then it was a rematch against Hudson Valley, but this time it was for the BCANY Summer Hoops Festival title, and a chance to be called the top section in New York State.

Everything that didn't work against Hudson Valley on Friday night seemed to be working on Sunday as the on ball defense was suffocating, and Section 1 star wing Elijah Hughes (Kennedy Catholic '16) was denied opportunities to attack the basket by Rochester's Jalen Pickett (Aquinas '17) who was rising to the occasion early on in this one.

Rochester was able to really take command going up by 6 midway through the opening half, and behind the play of Jeenathan Williams (University Prep '18) who was an athletic wing finisher around the rim, and the sharpshooting of Matt Keenan (Fairport '16), the Section 5 team took a 32-25 lead into the half.

What was more impressive about the play of Rochester was the fact that they were doing this without getting much production in the opening 16 minutes from the duo of Anthony Lamb (Greece Athena '16) and Quinton Rose (Bishop Kearney '16) who combined for just 2 points in the half, but were rolling on all other aspects of the game.

The boys from Section 5 kept their feet on the gas to start the second half as Dan Masino (Fairport '17) came out and buried a pair of early threes to see the lead grow to as many as 13, but it was just a matter of time until Section 1 made their run.

Hughes did start to get a bit more comfortable from the field but he was never given enough room to really operate as the Rochester coaches clearly made a tactical adjustment from Friday's game where the East Carolina commit went for 25, keeping him at bay and not letting him take over the game.

High scoring guard Derrick Felder (Saudners '16) was the Hudson Valley player who really started to help them chip away as his prowess in scoring in the open floor in transition, combined with some sloppy turnovers in the backcourt by Section 5 allowed Section 1 to close the deficit to just 6 at 48-42 with just over 7 minutes to play in the game, but back to back threes just after that by Keenan and Masino really seemed to deflate the Hudson Valley cause as Rochester once again looked in firm control.

With Hughes not thrived from the field the way he had been accustomed to in this tournament, which included a 42 point showing on Saturday night, others had to step up, and while Felder scored 12 in the second half, and Patrick Fleming (Iona Prep '16) stepped up and gave a solid contribution on the wing, it just was not enough.

The Rochester players who didn't have big time scoring outbursts in the first half really brought it in the second half as they stepped up the intensity and finished the game strong as it was the Section 5 team from Rochester were King of New York this weekend taking home the BCANY Summer Hoops Festival Championship, getting revenge and defeating Hudson Valley for the title, 75-66.

Keenan and Masino each paced Rochester with 17 points a piece, with Williams adding 14, and Lamb chipping in with 12 in what was a true team effort to win the crown.

Felder had 12 of his 17 points in the second half as he paced the way for the Hudson Valley team that had to be stunned after downing Rochester 66-47 in pool play on Friday night, but it was Sunday's game that meant more, and gave the title to Section 5.

The tournament overall saw each section from across New York State really shine, and including the consolation games on Sunday, championship day saw the level of play really take a big step up. We at NYCHoops.net were once again on hand from Johnson City, so here now is our take at some of the top performers from the day with player evaluations from the best on Sunday.