If there’s one school in Section V used to Friday Night Lights, it’s the The Hornell Red Raiders.
However, this time around, it’s not another undefeated and state championship football season, it’s another trip to the Section V finals for boys’ basketball
On Friday at 7 p.m., the #1 Hornell Red Raiders at 19-3 take on #2 Mynderse (14-8) at the Rochester War Memorial, Blue Cross Arena.
“Mynderse is a very good team that played a great schedule,” said Hornell coach Kirk Scholes. “They played Wayne, Newark, Geneva, Marcus Whitman, Pal-Mac, and World of Inquiry. We have a great deal of respect for their program and how they play basketball.”
Hornell and Mynderse have very strong guards. While Mynderse has size, Hornell’s athletic forwards have done a tremendous job all year. This will be their biggest test.
They are patient, move the ball well, and have some very good jump shooters,” Scholes said. “They are very skilled and have multiple guards that can hurt you. They also have the big fella inside who can score with both hands. They are very well coached, and I think it will be a fantastic game Friday night.”
To get to the Blue Cross Arena, Hornell needed after a big 69-51 win over LCAA rival Livonia Bulldogs in Class B1 Semifinal action Monday night.
The #4 seeded Bulldogs sank the first buckets of the night and jumped to a quick 4-0 lead. Back and forth buckets kept the Bulldogs ahead by four, but a 3-pointer by Gennaro Picco with 4 minutes remaining in the first quarter put the Raiders ahead 7-6, a lead they would hold the rest of the game. Leading by 11 at the half, the Red Raiders claimed the 69-51 victory.
“After the first few minutes, I thought we caught our rhythm and then the ball movement was excellent all night. We had a ton of assists, and guys were finding each other,” said Scholes. “It was an absolute team win! Every guy played a part in it offensively and defensively. The kids bought into the triangle and 2 that we wanted to play.
“We installed it in two days, and they are so smart and savvy. We had guys like Wev (Wyatt Evingham) and X (Xzaiver Patrick) face guarding their guards, trying to make it tough to get touches. We knew it was something they hadn’t seen. Along with Quinn (Mauro) and Marco (Picco), those guys were awesome all night. They made every catch difficult. PJ had a great game defensively. He was all over the place in that triangle,” Scholes continued. “He got his hands on a ton of balls and was so good at communicating and helping.” PJ Picco led all players with 4 steals and 4 deflections, netted 13 points, and had 8 rebounds and 5 assists on the night. In addition to his fantastic defensive performance, Xzaiver Patrick added 10 points.”
Scholes continued, “Aaron (McInerney) was the one who I thought calmed us down and got us going offensively early. He knocked down some big buckets and drove the ball to the rim.” McInerney had 14 points on the night, including a pair of 3s. He also grabbed 7 rebounds and 3 steals.
“Later in the game when they went man-to-man,” reflected Scholes, “we were able to get Gennaro on the low block a couple times. He’s a handful down there because of his athletic ability and strength against guards. He also is an excellent passer when teams try to double him from that position. He found Xzaiver and Aaron a couple times for layups.” Gennaro led the Raiders with 22 points and tallied an impressive 9 assists along with 8 rebounds in the win.
