ROCHESTER - The Bishop Kearney Kings threw a block party in the second half Saturday night at the Blue Cross Arena.
It was an invite the Jamestown Red Raiders wished they could have avoided.
The Kings used their considerable height to full advantage after intermission, swatting away shots, rebounding with abandon and scoring on putbacks to break open a close game and post a 53-41 victory in the Class AA Far West Regional.
Article Photos
Jamestown's Tommy Campion puts up a floater in the lane during the second half of Saturday night’s Class AA Far West Regional at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. See additional photos at cu.post-journal.com.
P-J photo by Scott Kindberg
The win vaults the Bishop Kearney (15-7), coached by Jamestown native Jon Boon, into the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four in Glens Falls next weekend. Jamestown, which was riding a nine-game winning streak and ranked 16th in the state, finishes the season 19-3.
In the end, the 14th-ranked Kings, whose two starting post players, senior Chinonso Obokoh and sophomore Thomas Bryant, stand 6-foot-10 and 6-9 respectively, were just too much in the paint.
The Syracuse University-bound Obokoh finished with 12 points; 19 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass; and two blocked shots. Bryant, meanwhile, had 12 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. Combined with a strong second half by 6-4 senior Alvin English, Bishop Kearney was simply too strong for the Red Raiders.
For a half, though, Jamestown was giving the Section 5 team a battle. In fact, the Red Raiders parlayed a strong zone defense, a decent job on the boards - the Kings only held a 16-12 rebounding advantage - and 10 points from senior Tommy Campion into a 23-22 lead at intermission.
"We didn't play a perfect first half,'' Jamestown coach Ben Drake said, "but we were winning. I thought we did a good job not giving up shots inside and we did a pretty good job on the boards. In the second half, I just thought they went after it harder than we did.''
Bishop Kearney started the third quarter on an 11-2 run with English scoring eight of those points. By the end of the period, Jamestown trailed, 38-29, and could do little to stem the Kings' dominance inside.
"We started attacking the basket,'' Boon said. "When we attack the basket we are going to take advantage of our size.''
It was more of the same in the fourth quarter. Unofficially, Bishop Kearney hit only one perimeter shot in the second half, but an outside game was hardly needed given their ability to rebound and score from in close.
How telling was the Kings' size?
In the second half, they outrebounded the Red Raiders, 27-12, and swatted away seven shots, making a Jamestown comeback a remote possibility.
"They were just going after it like men,'' Drake said.
Campion led the Red Raiders with a game-high 20 points, pushing his career total to 1,145 for his career, good for No. 5 on the school's all-time list. Sophomore Zack Panebianco added nine points, sophomores Stephen Carlson and Branden Kellam each had six rebounds and junior Quinn Lee Yaw added five.
"Tommy has been awesome all year and he was great again tonight, especially offensively. There were times when he was our only option, it seemed.''
Even Campion, who had four 3-pointers, had to work for his points, finishing 8-of-26 from the field. As a team, Jamestown connected on just 15-of-53 field goal attempts, including only 6-of-29 in the second half.
"We said we had to get the game out of the 40s to win,'' Boon said.
English and Antwoine Anderson both had 11 points to join Obokoh and Bryant in double figures for Bishop Kearney.
"(English) is great getting to the basket and finishing,'' Boon said. "That was the difference. We started attacking the basket. When we attack the basket, we are going to take advantage of our size."
NOTES: Jamestown took care of the ball, committing only seven turnovers compared to 15 for the Kings. Finishing ahead of Campion on all the all-time scoring list are Maceo Wofford (2,259), Justin Johnson (1,670), David Anderson (1,172) and Carlos Rivera (1,149).
JAMESTOWN (41)
Campion 8 4 20, Panebianco 3 2 9, Carlson 1 0 2, Kellam 2 1 5, Lee Yaw 1 3 5, Colwell 0 0 0, Hoaglund 0 0 0, McBride 0 0 0, Totals 15 6 41.
BISHOP KEARNEY (53)
Anderson 3 5 11, Foster 0 0 0, Bryant 4 3 12, English 5 1 11, Obokoh 4 0 12, Boon 1 0 3, Rose 1 0 2, Smith 1 0 2, Gause 0 0 0, Kirton 0 0 0, Ogide 0 0 0, Totals 19 13 53.
3-point goals: Campion 4, Panebianco, Bryant, Boon.
Jamestown14 9 6 12 - 41
Bishop Kearney9 13 16 15 - 53