GV/Belfast uses stout defense to establish attack, propel towards Rotary Club Tourney crown with 68-43 win over And/Whi; Fri/Scio bests Houghton behind brilliant 2nd half in Consolation round

BELMONT — The closing sequences on the Belmont Rotary Club’s inaugural basketball tournament began to take effect, Saturday afternoon. With decisive wins from both Andover/Whitesville and host Genesee Valley/Belfast on night one, they would become the first two teams in the tournament’s early inception to battle it out for this year’s crown.

As time wound down on the warm-ups, Swingtown by the Steve Miller Band blared over the speakers. Genesee Valley/Belfast coach Lintz Bliven’s telltale signal that he’s ready to go.

Along with it, some phenomenal play by his squad in the opening stages.

Genesee Valley/Belfast was at the top of their game one more time to close out the tournament weekend, as they established their footing on both ends of the court against Andover/Whitesville successfully, as the defense forced a bounty of turnovers which allowed their offense to provide major punctuations along the way. The foundation was laid down going forward, as the hosts became the tournament’s first-ever champions after coming away victorious with a 68-43 win.

“The kids are starting to believe in our defense. Hopefully it will become our best offense at some point, but they’re starting to close out really well and they’re building some confidence from it,” said Bliven. “It was really nice to get this tournament’s first title, and it’ll be towards the top of our goals each and every season as long as we have this thing. The kids all played hard to make this happen, and they earned it. It was a great turnout for everyone involved.”

Some back and forth jabs were traded between both clubs during the first eight minutes of play to open up the final game of the tournament. But it wasn’t long after until Genesee Valley/Belfast (2-1) was able to garner the start they wanted on defense, as they capitalized on back-to-back turnovers against Andover/Whitesville near mid-court, beginning with a Kadin Logue breakaway to the basket and then finished with Ian McKenzie following with one of his own.

The two turnovers would create a shift in the balance of power, as the pendulum was held down in the hosts favor for much of the time ahead. As a result, Genesee Valley/Belfast would go on to close out with nine of the quarter’s final 10 points for a 15-5 lead.

The hosts would continue to show no signs of slowing down in the second. With a double-digit lead in hand, it would blossom even larger to as much as 17 during one point after the defense forced the ball away from Andover/Whitesville (1-2) several more times. The majority of the capitalizations were provided by Kadin Logue, as he finished with a game-high 23 points to finish with the Tournament’s top honor of MVP at the end of the afternoon.

With a 33-16 lead in hand going into the break, Genesee Valley/Belfast was able to keep adding more building blocks in the second half, maintaining their position at the front of the pack to seal the victory for good.

Finishing behind Logue, who also grabbed nine rebounds, was Jacob Borden and Ian McKenzie, as both shooters recorded nine points. Brayden Cooper added in eight points of his own. For Andover/Whitesville, CJ Estep led the scoresheet with 21 team-high points. Colton Calladine and Gavin Cutler each had six to pitch in.

Prior to the Championship game, Houghton Academy and Friendship/Scio began the afternoon right back at One Jaguar Drive with Consolation round festivities, in a game where Friendship/Scio was able to overcome a massive second quarter from the Panthers in the second half, driving the lane towards victory by a 48-33 count to split their tenure in Belmont, directly in half.

“It was a pretty sluggish first half from the boys on offense. We were down eight at one point, and then they flipped the switch in the second half,” Friendship/Scio co-coach Dillon McFall said. “Defensively, we only gave up five points coming back out, which was great. Offensively, and even last night, it was a bit of a struggle. But we were able to find a rhythm, and we saw some glimpses from last night that carried over. We have one of the younger and least experienced squads around, so to come out of this tournament breaking even is a big positive.”

Friendship/Scio’s (1-1) victory was highlighted by a magnificent response they were able to produce after they rapidly fell behind to Houghton Academy and their 20-point effort, which led to a 28-20 halftime lead for the Panthers. Houghton Academy would then become frozen in place by their opposition for the remaining time in the second half, as Friendship/Scio coasted their way towards the front and remained there until the final buzzer behind a massive 19-2 third quarter run.

Heading the efforts was Brenden Loucks, who was dominant down low with his 20-point, 11-board double-double. Following was a 15-point effort from Taylor Moore, while Jerome Harmon had six points.

Houghton Academy (0-2) was led by Josh Davidson, who recorded a team-high 13 points. Behind him was James Adenuga and his 12-point performance. Jack Prentice rounded off the Panthers efforts with the remaining eight points.

Below is the next game for all four participants of this year’s Belmont Rotary Club Tournament:

GVB: vs Hinsdale, Tuesday 6 p.m. (at Belfast)

A/W: at Cowanesque Valley (PA), Friday 7:30 p.m.

F/S: at Bolivar-Richburg, Friday 7:30 p.m.

HA: vs Keshequa, Friday 6 p.m.

Consolation

Houghton Academy 8 20 2 3 – 33

Friendship/Scio 8 12 19 9 – 48

HOUGHTON ACADEMY: Jack Prentice 3 1-3 8, Josh Davidson 5 0-0 13, James Adenuga 5 1-1 12. Totals 13 2-4 33.

FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Taylor Moore 7 0-0 15, Ethan Davenport 2 0-0 4, Jerome Harmon 3 0-0 6, Brenden Loucks 9 2-6 20, Matt Donohue 1 0-0 3. Totals: 22 2-6 48.

3-point goals: HA 5, (Davidson 3, Prentice, Adenuga), F/S 2 (Moore, Donohue).
Total Fouls: HA 10, F/S 11. Fouled out: None.

Championship

Andover/Whitesville 5 11 13 14 – 43

Genesee Valley/Belfast 15 18 19 16 – 68

ANDOVER/WHITESVILLE: Will Kent 2 1-2 5, CJ Estep 7 7-9 21, Colton Calladine 3 0-0 6, Kohler Niedermaier 1 0-0 2, Jack Belmont 1 0-0 3, Gavin Cutler 3 0-0 6. Totals: 17 8-11 43.

GV/BELFAST: Brayden Cooper 4 0-0 8, Kadin Logue 9 4-4 23, Elden Aquila 2 0-0 5, Daemon Cobb 0 0-2 0, Kyle McCumiskey 2 0-0 5, Ian McKenzie 4 0-0 9, Max Wedge 2 0-0 4, Jacob Borden 4 1-2 9, Thai Norasethaporn 0 2-2 2, Fisher Herdman 1 0-0 2, Ryan Daciw 0 1-4 1. Totals: 24 7-10 68.

3-point goals: A/W 1 (Belmont), GVB 4 (Logue, Aquila, McCumiskey, McKenzie).
Total Fouls: A/W 13, GVB 14. Fouled out: None.