Victor vying for first state title, defense lifts Blue Devils in boys basketball state semifinal

If defense wins championships, Victor is well on its way.

Coach Tyler Roberts' stingy defense and an efficient offensive attack led by Garrett Clar, Cam Ryan and Nick Leonard gave Victor all the cushion it needed to clinch the program's first-ever state finals appearance.

Victor scored the first 10 points of Friday's New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class AA semifinal, and the Blue Devils never trailed during their 56-41 victory over Section XI's Brentwood to clinch a spot in Saturday's state championship game.

"I'm incredibly proud of these guys," Roberts said to NYSPHSAA after Friday's win. "They stepped up tonight and did exactly what we talked about doing in our film and all week in practice. I'm just really happy we're moving on and playing tomorrow night."

What it means

Victor improved to 23-2 after winning its first Section V title in 45 years. The Blue Devils have been in uncharted territory ever since, defeating Section VI's Niagara Falls in the region final to advance to the final four, and will now play in the state championship game.

Victor will enter Saturday's NYSPHSAA Class AA final riding an eight-game winning streak.

Brentwood's season ended at 18-8.

Player of the game

Garrett Clar

The junior guard led Victor in scoring with 19 points. He scored the game's first four points. Clar shot efficiently on 9-of-16 from shooting, finishing many first-quarter fast break opportunities after his defense forced a turnover or pulled down a rebound. Clar grabbed seven boards himself.

"Honestly, it was a lot of emotions," Clar told NYSPHSAA. "The ups and downs ... the mood swings that come in a basketball game. Obviously there were frustrations and missed shots, and excitement when shots went in, but I like to keep myself and my team even keel the whole game, so no matter what's going on we can always come together."

Game balls

Cam Ryan

The junior guard scored 16 points. Ryan lived at the line and made 7 of his 9 free throw attempts and orchestrated many of Victor's fast break opportunities.

"This is a super surreal moment," Ryan said to NYSPHSAA. "This is what the whole team's been dreaming of since we were very young, very little. Great moment. Great team win. Excited for tomorrow."

Nick Leonard

The junior forward played a well-rounded game with eight points, six rebounds and four assists. The 6-foot-4 Leonard was too much to handle in the paint, and helped teammates with crisp passes to cutters.

Key moments

AJ Queri always comes up with a clutch bucket. Scoring was scarce when Victor led Brentwood 37-28 early in the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils turned the ball over against a feisty full court press. However, Ryan intercepted an errant Brentwood pass at half court, and found Queri for a wide open 3 to take a 40-28 lead with less than six minutes to play.

Griffen Hopkins had a few highlights. He was especially impressive with his help defense. With 3:30 left in the first, Hopkins dove for a loose ball and passed to Ryan in the same motion, who then fed Clar for an easy fast break basket and 10-0 first quarter lead. When Victor's lead shrunk to 23-21 in the second, Hopkins made a 3-pointer to take a 26-21 lead into halftime.

Brennan Hopkins and senior Ryan Dodge also contributed to Victor's impressive defensive performance within Roberts' 2-3 zone and man sets. Their stops and forced turnovers led to easy scoring opportunities and leads of 15-3 and 17-5, ultimately ending the first quarter up 20-7.

By the numbers

2 — Made 3-pointers by Brentwood. They made 2 of 14 attempts on 14% shooting.

13 — Total points by Brentwood's leading scorer Jeremiah Webb. He made 5 of 15 field goals.

35% — Brentwood's field goal percentage. Victor forced them into a 16-for-45 shooting night.

What's next

Victor will play Section I's North Rockland (19-7) in the NYSPHSAA Class AA final at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cool Insuring Arena in Glens falls.

Tickets

Tickets can be purchased on-site for $10 or in advance through Seat Geek for $13 including fees. Parking is available in several nearby lots.

Livestream

All of the NYSPHSAA games will be streamed by the NFHS Network, which charges $11.99 for a monthly subscription.

North Rockland narrowly defeated Section III's Liverpool 57-55 in overtime during its Class AA semifinal.

This story will be updated later.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Victor boys basketball defeats Brentwood in state semifinal