By: Dylan O'Loughlin
LEROY, NY - After the Oatkan Knights’ 10-game win streak was snapped by Churchville-Chili just two days ago, Jean Agosto scored 13 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to lead LeRoy to a 54-42 victory at home over the York Golden Knights. Trailing by eight points coming out of the locker room, LeRoy went on a 22-8 run in the third quarter to open up six-point lead that the Oatkan Knights kept the rest of the way.
"I just wanted to go past my limits and help my team out because I was slowing down in the first half," Agosto said. "That motivated me too because coach was telling me how I was slowing down and need to get back in the game and I had to do it for my team. Being aggressive, working the post down low, realizing where the ball is going, setting screens and helping my team out with anything."
To start the second quarter, Agosto scored four quick points, but after a collison with York sophomore guard Yeriel Diaz-Pena, the 6'4" senior had to sit the rest of the half due to injury. LeRoy only scored four more points the rest of the quarter while the Golden Knights had five different scorers leave their mark in the frame to take the lead heading into halftime. Agosto's presence was missed as York was able to get into the paint at will and crash the glass for more second chance opportunities.
LeRoy head coach Mike Battaglia's message was simple heading into the locker room.
"We've got to do a better job of boxing out down here," Battaglia said. "They're getting too many possessions with two or three shots and we're making the game easy for them. But I think really the biggest thing to me, I think we're going to have to be physically tougher and we're getting outworked right now and that's unacceptable. So, we're going to have to play much harder in the second half if we want to get out of here with a win."
Once the second half started though, Agosto returned to the game and made an instant impact as he netted eight points in the quarter. The senior also crashed the glass in the third giving his teammates second-chance opportunities on the offensive end. LeRoy went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter until Diaz-Pena stopped the flood with a fast-break layup to make the score 32-32.
That was the last tie of the game as LeRoy had four other scorers join Agosto in the quarter. Leading the way was junior Matthew Hockey and senior Jake Higgins with five points apiece as the trio combined for 18 of LeRoy's 22 points in eight minutes.
In the fourth, it was a heavily defensive battle. The defense of LeRoy held York to only four points in the quarter while the Oatkan Knights scored 10 points in the frame. York cut the lead to nine after a triple from junior forward Ryan Brady, but with under two minutes remaining, senior Aaric Luce hit the dagger from beyond the arc to extend the lead to 12 and put the game away.
"We knew it was going to be a battle from the start," Luce said. "They're a hard team that plays hard every game. They give the good teams challenges, but it's not difference for us. We just got to come out, play with poise more often and finish games."
To go along with his 19 points, Agosto hauled in 12 rebounds on the night to finish with a double-double. Luce added 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal while Hockey followed with 10 points including six from long range along with one rebound and one assist. Higgins finished with seven points and four assists while leading the Oatkan Knights in rebounds with 13 and Adam Woodworth ended with four points, seven boards, four assists and one block.
For York, Diaz-Pena and Brady led the way with 11 points apiece. Junior forward Parker Bonefede ended with six points while senior forward Liam Ezard and junior forward Mason Parsons recorded five points each in the first half. Sophomore guard Zachary Bauer rounded out the scoring with four of York's eight third quarter points.
LeRoy goes back to the win column with a 12-3 record. Despite the loss to Churchville-Chili, the Oatkan Knights are ready to ride this momentum the rest of the season and into playoffs.
"We got a tough schedule ahead," Luce said. "We got Double-A Spencerport, a Single-A Rochester Prep squad and a tough Letchworth team that's always hard to beat. So, I think for us, we just got to come out with the mentality that we can hang with anyone, we can play no matter what. Knock down more shots and the more efficient we are with the ball, the better."
LeRoy travels to Letchworth this Friday, Feb. 7 for tip-off at 7 p.m. Switching to the York side, the Golden Knights fall to 7-9 on the season and look ahead to Keshequa Friday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.
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