Wilson 47, Emerson 44

Kyle Bradley scored a game-high 22 points and Evan Shank added 18 points as the ninth seeded Lakemen defeated the eighth seeded Eagles at Hutch-Tech during the Section VI pre-quarterfinal round on Wednesday night.  With the victory, Wilson advances to the quarterfinals on Friday night, where they will face the top seed in Class B2, East High, at Grover Cleveland.

The Eagles led a close contest for nearly the entire first half, but never gained anymore than four points separation from the Lakemen.  Then during the final minute of the half, Wilson went on a 6-0 run to first tie, and then gain a lead heading into halftime.  Just six seconds before intermission, Evan Shank scored on a layup set up by a steal to give the Lakemen a 25-21 advantage at the break, the largest lead at that point in the game held by either team.

Early in the third quarter, consecutive baskets from Bradley (one being a three-point play) stretched the Lakemen lead to 30-23.  However, Emerson's Michael Simpson, who had scored 47 points in a league outing against Buffalo Arts a week earlier, scored nine of his team-high 22 points in the third quarter on three long treys, to bring the Eagles back to within three pooints, 37-34, heading into the final stanza.

A 10-2 run from Emerson over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter had the Eagles in the driver's seat & Lakemen fans on the edge of their seats, with a 44-39 lead, and just two minutes to play.  But after a five-minute field goal drought from Wilson, Joe Littere sank a 3-pointer from the left side with 1:46 to play, igniting the young Lakemen squad.  On the ensuing possession, Zach Sarratoria came up with a clutch steal on the defensive end for Wilson, which led to the Lakemen moving the ball to the other end in transition and finding an open Shank waiting on the perimeter, where he was money with the long-ball — putting Wilson back in front, 45-44, with just over a minute remaining.

In the game's final minute, Wilson gained a defensive stop and then scored in its end on a putback from Bradley with 18 ticks left, making it 47-44.  As Emerson attempted to get a game-tying '3' to fall in the closing moments, Sarratoria was there again to rip the ball away from one of the Eagle players and seal the sectional victory for Wilson.

Alden 65, Lafayette 52

Dylan Dussault was an interior force to be reckoned with and Brian Stoldt was inspiring on the defensive end, as Alden dominated Lafayette from start to finish in the pre-quarterfinal round on Wednesday night at City Honors.  The victory vaults the Bulldogs into the quarterfinals on Friday night, where they will visit Tonawanda, a familiar ECIC IV foe who swept them in a pair of regular season meetings this season.

Before a large contingent of fans who made the trip in support of their Bulldogs, Alden got out to an early 16-7 advantage after one quarter.  After trading buckets to start the second stanza, the Bulldogs went on a 14-5 run that pushed their lead to 32-14.  Dussault scored 12 of his game-high 35 points in the second quarter and Alden enjoyed a comfortable 38-24 lead at the break.  Dussault netted another 11 points in the third quarter, as Alden's lead reached 20 points at one point during that frame.  Over the game's final eight minutes, the Bulldogs saw their lead top out at 22 points, before the Violets cut into it with a too-little-too-late push towards game's end.

Dussault was a matchup nightmare for Lafayette, who had no one to match his size or his intensity in the paint.  He was equally effective posting up in half court sets and scoring, as he was converting in transition for Alden.  Many of Dussaults transition points, along with a 14-point outing from Tyler Glaser, were made possible by Stoldt's lockdown defense on Lafayette standout Lester Diaz.  The Bulldogs employed a box & 1 to limit the Violets general, a strategy that worked almost to perfection.  With Stoldt attached at the hip to Diaz, the Violets did little to get the ball into his hands, and struggled to find any offense consistency, leading to missed shots that turned into fast break points for Alden.

Jovanny Vargas scored a team-high 19 points for Lafayette, while Adam Figueora added 13 points.  Diaz was held to a season-low 12 points in his final game.

-centercourt

@centercourt42