ONONDAGA COUNTY – They had to wait more than three weeks for the Fayetteville-Manlius and Christian Brothers Academy boys basketball teams to finally go head-to-head.
And it was worth waiting for, especially for the Hornets, who led late in Saturday night’s game at Buddy Wleklinski Court, then surrendered a six-point lead in the final minute of regulation before recovering in overtime to beat the Brothers 72-68.
Originally set to meet Dec. 29 in the opening round of the Manny Leone Holiday Classic, the game got scrapped when F-M had to go on a COVID-19 pause.
By the time they did tip off, there was enough room for both sides to string together unforgettable clutch performances in a wild fourth quarter and four-minute OT.
CBA had led most of the way until F-M nosed out in front late in the third period, then appeared to grab the game by having Trevor Roe, Luke Davidson and Max Danaher hit on five combined 3-pointers.
Then, when Pat Emery hit on a driving lay-up and sank the ensuing free throw with 1:03 left, the Hornets were up 53-47, but Dan Anderson made sure the Brothers didn’t go away.
Anderson hit his own 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 53-50. Then, after Davidson missed the front end of a one-and-one, CBA got possession and moved it around until Anderson, from well beyond the arc, hit another three that tied it.
Davidson’s contested jumper at the buzzer was off line, and the Brothers appeared to have all the momentum going into the four-minute OT period – until Roe got going again.
With his team up by one, 57-56, Roe hit on back-to-back 3-pointers. Ultimately, the margin grew to 66-58 as Roe earned 10 of his game-high 28 points in the OT.
Again fighting back, CBA pulled within two, 69-67, as time wound down in OT, but Davidson was able to hit three free throws in the final seconds to clinch it.
Of Davidson’s 16 points, 12 of them were in the fourth quarter and OT as Anderson hit on 12 of his 25 points in the final period to key the comeback and Braeden Burns got eight of his 16 points in OT. Sam Dunn added nine points in the Hornets’ cause.
Before all this, F-M hosted Nottingham last Tuesday and beat the Bulldogs 48-32, never allowing more than nine points in any single quarter.
Only up 18-17 at halftime, F-M got away while again leaning on the duo of Davidson and Roe. Between them, Davidson, who had 21 points, and Roe, who got 12 points, accounted for all but three of the Hornets’ field goals.
Then the Hornets met Baldwinsville Friday night during ts annual “Pink Out” event for its basketball doubleheader against Baldwinsville, with the boys Hornets rolling to a 59-39 victory over the Bees.
Sharp at the outset, F-M was up 19-9 on B’ville by the end of the first quarter, and it was the same case during the third period, the Hornets’ 15-6 run all but deciding the outcome. Roe led the way with 17 points, while Danaher had 12 points. Emery matched Davidson’s total of 11 points.
Meanwhile, CBA, off for more than a week since beating Auburn on Jan. 12, got a real scare from Syracuse Academy of Science before gaining a 69-66 victory over the Atoms.
An early lead vanished w hen SAS outscored the Brothers 18-11 in the second quarter for a 33-32 halftime lead, and from there the momentum switched several times in the second half.
Only in the last seconds did CBA pull it out as Anderson, Burns and Amarri Pitts each finished with 17 points and Tyler Broschart had 10 points. Makai Reed gave the Atoms 20 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
