Wednesday Sectionals: 4th quarter rally by No. 3 Lions falls just shy of completion, as No. 7 Way-Co comes away with upset victory to fill B2 Finals vacancy in 54-52 thrilling win
CANISTEO — The train tracks that led toward Blue Cross Arena would soon come side-to-side down the home stretch in the Class B2 Semifinal round at Canisteo-Greenwood on Wednesday. In a rematch of last season’s Class B2 Finals, there was a bit of a big difference this season. Either third-seeded Wellsville or No. 7 Wayland-Cohocton was going to make it back to the War.
The second half was where the action began to heat up, after the Eagles came up with a one-point lead to take into halftime. At that point, each team calculated a run in a blaze of glory to attempt to change the entire landscape of play. In the last eight minute period, the Lions had saved their best card to play for the end, outscoring the seven seeds heavily.
But it the end, the littlest of details mattered, as Cameron Huber put away a pair of big shots with 45 seconds left to play, putting Wayland-Cohocton back in the lead and for good despite one last chance for the Lions at the very end off a shot that ultimately rimmed out as the buzzer sounded, as the Eagles went forth to upset No. 3 Wellsville with a clutch 54-52 Semifinals victory, ending their season.
“It was our biggest second half effort of the season,” Lions coach Raymie Auman said. “There were times in the first half that we didn't play with the sense of urgency that we usually have, and it certainly hurt us. We really needed to have that third person step up behind Max (Jusianiec) and Liam (McKinley) tonight. We could never really find out rhythm against junk defense.”
Jusianiec and McKinley were two huge pieces of help for the Lions in the second half of play, but both had to battle their way through what turned out to be a back-and-forth battle through the first half of play, as each team delivered baskets one after another to keep a one-point margin installed after the Lions scored four of the next five points to close the Eagles lead from five to one toward the tail end of the frame.
When the half came to a close, the teeter-totter battle resumed until Wayland-Cohocton remained on top with a 27-26 lead heading into the locker room.
In the third quarter, it provided eight minutes for Wayland-Cohocton to do a bit of breaking loose. After establishing a 35-31 lead with under three minutes left to play in the frame, they would go on to keep the Wellsville offense at a standstill right up until the buzzer by finishing with the last five points on their offensive end to go up by a nine-point, 40-31 decision into the fourth.
It was the largest lead of the game for either side, but all of it quickly diminished with Wellsville’s offense coming to life with a 21-14 outstanding run, behind both Jusianiec and McKinley, who went off from three-point land with three of his seven total three-pointers coming in the mid-section of the quarter to keep shrinking the distance down between them and the Eagles.
But then, Jusianiec, just minutes later, pulled up in a big way with the team down by six and 3:17 left to play in regulation by bringing both of his three-pointers to the table, with the first closing the Wayland-Cohocton lead down in the last 90 seconds of the game to a straight tie from near half-court to bring the Lions all the way back, knotting the scoreboard at 49-all with 1:15 left to go.
“Max gave a very gutty and resilient effort tonight,” Auman said. “They played him very hard, very physical, and he kept his cool the entire game. Down the stretch, he was certainly a big part of giving us a chance to win, and ultimately he had a last look to do that. Liam hit some big mid-quarter threes that really got us back into the game. We were down close to, if not, double digits. His confidence has really peaked, especially towards the end of the season with these two phenomenal performances.”
The game would remain tied when the clock wound down to the last 45 seconds, with the Lions fouling Cameron Huber in one of their final defensive stands. He would go on to make two huge shots to give the Eagles the lead back, only to add more to it from the stripe to pick up the four-point, 53-49 lead with under 15 seconds remaining. Jusianiec had one last card to play himself from downtown, as he hit the last of his two three-pointers with three seconds to go to come to within one, forcing a Lions timeout to advance.
But Wayland-Cohocton would ultimately find the win column after one more shot at the line grew the lead to a pair, leaving little to no time left for Wellsville to make one last play. As the ball was inbounded one last time, Jusianiec picked up possession to heave a potential game-winning three-pointer, but it would rim out at the very last second as Wayland-Cohocton survived one of the more entertaining battles of the postseason.
It would mark the end of Jusianiec’s career in a Lions uniform, as he finishes with 16 points in his final game. McKinley led all scorers however, netting seven of the team’s nine three-pointers in all to record a game-high 23 points. Aidan Hart followed suit with five points, while Eli Schmidt and Logan Dunbar each had four points to add in.
The season is officially over for the Wellsville Lions in this 2019-20 campaign, as they wrap up a season filled with ups and downs with an overall record of 11-11. The team will graduate just three seniors in all at the end of the year in Jusianiec, Noah Chaffee and Ettore Orioli.
Looking back, Auman says the season may not have been as successful as he had hoped for, but it also provided some pretty memorable moments along the way.
“We certainly fell short of our goals but overall, we had some great moments behind that,” he said. “Our younger players got a lot better as the season went on, and hopefully they have become more hungry for what they can accomplish in the future seasons to come. To say we will miss both Max and Noah is a massive understatement. Max is by far, the most talented player I have ever seen in this county, and he will most certainly go on to do some very special things at college, wherever he goes. Noah was a great addition to our team this year, and his toughness and leadership he brought with him, will be missed greatly.”
Wayland-Cohocton 13 14 13 14 – 54
Wellsville 10 16 5 21 – 52
WAYLAND-COHOCTON: DeAndre Green 4 0-1 8, Justin Horton 4 0-0 8, Logan Brown 1 0-0 3, Cameron Huber 6 7-9 22, Jamie Carman 2 1-3 5, Tim Mead 2 2-4 8. Totals: 19 10-17 54.
WELLSVILLE: Max Jusianiec 6 2-6 16, Eli Schmidt 2 0-1 4, Liam McKinley 8 0-0 23, Logan Dunbar 1 2-2 4, Aidan Hart 2 1-2 5. Totals: 19 5-11 52.
3-point goals: Way-Co 6 (Huber 3, Mead 2, Brown), Wellsville 9 (McKinley 7, Jusianiec 2).
Total Fouls: Way-Co 13, Wellsville 15. Fouled out: None.
