GATES — The foundation of both the Geneva and Wayne Central boys basketball programs is defense. They pride themselves on locking down opponents’ best players and schemes, and preventing big runs.
With the regular-season series split between the co-champions of the Finger Lakes East, Wednesday’s Class A semifinal was expected to be a low-scoring affair. In the end, only one team reached the 50-point plateau — and it was the Eagles, who converted from the free-throw line and hit clutch buckets down the stretch to win 52-45.
“I’m proud of these kids,” Geneva head coach Ed Collins said. “Did we want to be on the losing end? No. We missed shots we’d like to have back, some defensive possessions where we dropped coverage we’d like to have back, but you know what? These kids played hard and left it on the floor. As a coach, that is all we can ask them to do.”
Defense dictated how each team ran its offense in the early going. Geneva (19-3) spread out and looked to play man-to-man to begin the game, while the Eagles (19-3) were focused on doubling senior Kaden Larsen-Porter and ensuring he didn’t get rolling early.
“We expected that. Both programs preach defense,” Collins said. “They came up to play defense the way we thought they would. Pinching Kaden off is something every team does. He’s the focal point to try and take away.”
Despite an early lead on the back of hot shooting from Andrew Green to begin, Geneva was down by 1 point to start the second half. An early 3-ball from Green freed up some interior space for Larsen-Porter to work, and the Panthers shot out to a 31-26 lead in the third quarter.
A slick, no-look pass from Larsen-Porter to Jahzire White inside gave the Panthers that 5-point lead and forced a timeout from Wayne head coach Bill Thomson.
The Eagles’ timeout allowed them to readjust and cool down Geneva. It worked to perfection as Wayne finished the quarter down by just two and held Geneva scoreless for a stretch of three minutes.
“(Kaden) opens up the floor for us, but tonight we got a little stagnant,” Collins said. “We didn’t move when Kaden had the ball. We kind of stopped and watched a little bit. Throughout the season, we were moving and he would find the open guy. We got stagnant tonight watching him move the ball.”
The Panthers got back out to a 6-point lead to start the fourth but, after a sluggish start to the final eight minutes, Wayne Central got hot and hit back-to-back 3s and got a converted and-1 from MJ Marvin. A floater from Jack Miles forced a Geneva timeout.
Wayne Central had gone on a 10-0 run in three minutes and led 47-43 with just 90 seconds left in the game.
“Offensively, we had some good looks,” Collins said. “We just didn’t knock shots down when we had them. But, we had the good looks, and can’t ask for more than that.”
Down the stretch, Geneva ran out of gas. Missed mid-range shots coupled with free throw line proficiency from Wayne Central ended the Panthers’ chance at making it to the Class A title game.
In the final minute, the Eagles locked down the perimeter to negate any attempts at 3-pointers from Geneva. The Panthers was forced settle for mid-range shots. When those didn’t fall, they begun to foul. Wayne went 5-for-6 at the stripe in the final minute.
A final mid-range attempt from Geneva’s leader in Larsen-Porter bounced off the rim and out with 10 seconds remaining, and the Panthers’ season came to a close.
“I wouldn’t want to coach any other team at any other school,” Collins said. “They stuck together this whole year. We just talked in the locker room that now is not the time to separate, now is the time we show that we stay together. The outcome wasn’t what we wanted, but they are a group, they’re a team and they are good kids.”