Lake Park’s 12-point first-quarter lead over East Aurora on Friday seemed almost too good to be true, especially on the Tomcats’ home court.
East Aurora showed why, using relentless pressure and hot shooting to eventually trim the lead to three points in the late going.
But the Lancers didn’t fold under pressure as they pulled away in the final minute for a 76-67 Upstate Eight victory.
The victory gave Lake Park (12-4, 6-1) an edge over East Aurora (12-4, 4-2) in a tight conference race.
It was the smallest guy on the court–5-foot-6-inch junior guard David Mikrut–who hit the biggest shot.
His three-point baseline three-pointer with 1 minute 40 seconds to play helped restore a six-point Lake Park lead at 71-65.
“I’d been broke the whole game,” Mikrut said. “How many shots did I miss in the first half? Then one actually fell. They found me and I just happened to actually make one.”
Lake Park then hit 5-of-7 free throws in the final 40 seconds to keep East Aurora at bay.
Trailing 66-57 with with 4:01 to play, the Tomcats used an 8-2 run in less than a minute to get to within three points at 68-65 after Yami Ball’s two free throws.
It was the latest and final surge by an East Aurora team that had several runs on the night, sparked by fast breaks and three-point shooting.
“We had our runs, they had their runs,” Mikrut said. “The threes they were hitting kept coming down and coming down. But we had confidence.
“We believed that if [guard] Andy Mack could get through the pressure, then we’d be all right. Andy played unbelievable.”
Mack scored 19 points and was among four Lancers in double figures.
Senior forward Ryan Cibulka led with 25 points, including 15 in the opening quarter, forward Anthony Pavone had 12 and Mikrut added 11.
The Tomcats also had a chance to cut the Lancers’ lead to three points early in the third quarter. Trailing 41-34, Ball missed a sure jam and then East Aurora threw the ball away on a subsequent possession.
Lake Park made East pay, replying with a 12-2 run that extended its lead to 53-36–the biggest of the night–with 4:12 remaining in the quarter.
