ONONDAGA COUNTY – Over the course of two days and nights, area high school boys basketball teams would make their way to Christian Brothers Academy and Jamesville-DeWitt for the 17th edition of the Peppino’s Invitational.
And it would culminate Saturday night with the Brothers and Red Rams meeting one another – but only after a series of games that included a classic Friday between CBA and Chittenango not soon to be forgotten, the Brothers falling 72-71 after it led most of the second half.
Alex Moesch hit a free throw with 45 seconds left to break a 71-71 tie. He missed the second, but Brendon Barrigar rebounded and Chittenango had a chance to build on its one-point lead.
However, Ty Kelly’s driving lay-up attempt glanced off the backboard and did not hit the rim, causing a shot-clock violation and, with 7.6 seconds to play, CBA had a chance to win it.
Braeden Burns, who had netted 25 points in the second half for the Brothers (31 overall), ended up with the ball and, with 0.5 seconds left, Ryan Moesch fouled him, a non-shooting violation.
It was the seventh Chittenango team foul, a one-and-one situation. Burns stepped to the line -and his shot went off the right rim, CBA unable to snare the rebound as time ran out.
That it was Ryan Moesch in the center of the final play made sense, given that he had scored a career-best 33 points, his speed and skill baffling CBA’s defenders who had spent so much time containing his older brother.
After Burns hit three free throws with 3:48 left to make it 68-61 in the Brothers’ favor, Ty Kelly converted on a lay-up to ignite an 8-0 Chittenango run that, in a span of a minute, put the Bears in front 69-68. Burns’ 3-pointer was answered by a Ryan Moesch basket that produced a 71-71 tie and set up the final drama.
Rebounding against J-D on Saturday, CBA prevailed 57-45, tightening up its defense and outscoring the Rams in every single quarter while steadily building its margin.
Burns had 17 points this time around, with Luke Boule getting 13 points and Steve DeRegis 11 points, hitting on three 3-pointers to go with the four he made against Chittenango.Trent Hughes led J-D with 15 points as Ian Delpha and Anthony Stickle had 10 points apiece.
This followed the debut of Fayetteville-Manlius against Utica Proctor, a tense battle won 54-47 by the Hornets as it played tough, consistent defense all afternoon.
As it might do all season, the offense leaned heavily on Trevor Roe, who poured in 29 points, more than half F-M’s output. Dan Stark and Chris Shanuhvia helped with eight points apiece.
Bishop Grimes also played on Saturday at J-D, the Cobras facing Nottingham and, on the court where Bob McKenney once coached the Red Rams to so much glory, edging the Bulldogs 57-55.
Neither side could get away, but the Cobras held on in large part due to Deng Garang’s 20 points as Erik Wall and Jon Corl had 14 points apiece and Nate Abernethy added six points.
J-D had opened Friday against West Genesee, who got a last-second win over F-M in last winter’s sectional semifinals, and lost 77-51 to the Wildcats, who opened with a 21-9 run and never got caught.
In defeat, J-D did get encouraging efforts from Stickle, who poured in 21 points, and Alan Zanders, who had 15 points as Hughes chimed in with 10 points. Christian Cain led WG with 25 points.
While all this was going on, East Syracuse Minoa had a far quieter opening game at Skaneateles, but was quite impressive in defeating the Lakers 57-28.
Building a 49-17 lead through three periods, the Spartans spread its production around. Andrew Graham led with nine points, with Anthony Bryant, Tyler Quarry and Trey Bova getting eight points apiece as Cole Thomas added seven points.
Manlius Pebble Hill opened with a pair of defeats in its own Tip-Off Classic, dropping a close 67-64 decision to DeRuyter despite 26 points from James Wildhack and 16 points from Kevin Frastastitnav as Ryder Forrest had 38 points for the Rockets. The Trojans fell 65-44 to Oneida a day later.
