#1 Generals advance to Region III Semifinal Saturday

(Anquan McLean Jr. finished Tuesday's sub-regional game with 13 points, highlighted by this dunk in the second half).

(Tyquan Scott scores two of his 16 points Tuesday's on this offensive rebound and put back in the second half).

HERKIMER, NY – Scoring 54 points in the second half of Tuesday's (2/23) sub-regional game, the #1 Herkimer Generals men's basketball team advanced to the Region III semifinal this Saturday (2/27), defeating #8 Corning 88-63 in regulation.

Herkimer (25-3, 16-0) trailed for much of the first half, trying to find the right combination of guys on the court with the Red Barons keeping the Generals offense at bay. Head Coach Matt Lee even changed to a man-to-man defense for three minutes, but it didn't help as Corning built a five-point lead (21-16) with 8:48 left before intermission.

It took a field goals from Tyquan Scott (Long Beach, NY) and Justin Harley (Central Islip, NY) for the team get in a rhythm, going on a 7-1 run to take a five-point lead (29-24) with less than three minutes remaining before intermission. It got to six points (34-28) after Patrick Dorrian (Kingston, NY) hit his third and fourth three-point field goals of the half on assists from and Harley and Daniel Owens (Albany, NY) to lead all players at that point with 15 in the first 20 minutes. Dorrian finished with a game-high 21.

In the opening minutes of the second half, it looked as if Corning might keep the game interesting, getting the first field goal of the half, but Herkimer answered with a 6-0 run in the span of two minutes to lead 40-30. It was the first double digit lead after three lead changes between both teams early.

The deficit ballooned to 20 points after Timothy McKenzie (Central Islip, NY) stole a pass and went in for the layup with nine minutes left in regulation. It stayed there until the second team got some minutes with the team up 23 (77-54), actually pushing it to 25 by the end of regulation (88-63).

Herkimer will play the winner between #4 Mohawk Valley and #5 Hudson Valley in the Region III semifinal on Saturday, February 27. Herkimer College is the host for the two-day tournament. The Generals will host either team in the varsity gym at 3 p.m.

Score:

#1 Herkimer Generals 88, #8 Corning Red Barons 63

Halftime:

Herkimer 34-28

GENERALS (25-3, 16-0) Patrick Dorrian 21, Tyquan Scott 16, Anquan McLean Jr. 13, Justin Harley 8, Tru Garland 6, Daniels Owens 6, Shomari Redd 5, Timothy McKenzie 4, Matt Dallas 3, Todd Spottswood 2. Totals: 30-20-88

RED BARONS (12-13) Jordan Schuck 13, Shawn Wedderburn 13, Jason Caldwell 10, Pryce Taylor 8, Bernard Edwards 6, Kevon Davis 3, Trentton Ray 3, Efrain DeJesus 3, Foster Clark 2, Shaheen Hopson 1. Totals: 19-17-63

3-Point Goals: Generals 8 (Dorrian 5, Garland 1, Owens 1, Dallas 1), Red Barons 7 (Schuck 3, Caldwell 2, DeJesus 1, Taylor 1) 

Next Game: 2/27 vs. #4 Mohawk Valley/#5 Hudson Valley in Region III Semifinal at 3 p.m.

-Giorgio Varlaro