CENTRAL NEW YORK – Section III’s decision to again use an open-tournament format for the upcoming basketball playoffs means that Baldwinsville’s boys and girls could concentrate on improvement rather than reaching a certain record.
On the boys side, the Bees hosted Cicero-North Syracuse last Tuesday and, once again, got in a close contest against the Northstars that it could not quite finish off, taking a 60-54 defeat.
Having only lost by one, 44-43, when they met in early January, B’ville saw its defense struggle more the second time around, especially in a first half where it fell behind 36-23.
Battling back late, the Bees saw Matt Young earn 19 points, but no other player hit double figures as Greg Marinelli and Jason Bifulco got nine points apiece and Eli Taft added seven points.
C-NS, meanwhile, saw Andrew Benedict amass a game-high 24 points and get lots of help from Michael Gallo, who had 16 points, and Reece Congel, who added 11 points.
Back home on Saturday, B’ville honored its five seniors – Bifulco, Taft, Ethan Hilliar, John Capilli and Will Weakley – prior to its game against visiting Henninger.
Again, it was close – and again, the Bees were on the wrong side of it, a 42-35 defeat where excellent defense in the first half – it held the Black Knights to just 13 points – was not rewarded.
Only Bifulco, with 14 points, and Taft, with seven points, earned more than one field goal. Henninger got 11 points from Ja’Quair Lewis, 10 points from Will’zarrion Jones and nine points from Caleb Girty, dropping the Bees to 6-11.
Moving to girls basketball, B’ville’s find mid-season surge had cooled down by the time it went to C-NS last Tuesday night, and it was overwhelmed during an 81-31 loss to the Northstars.
Somehow C-NS, who prevailed 65-25 the first time these two sides met, got better in the rematch, building a 44-16 advantage by halftime and not letting up at all late.
Kyrah Wilbur did get 14 points, but no other Bees player had more than Madison Polky’s five points, a total nine different Northstars reached led by Kathleen Taru (13 points), Mallory Brooks (12 points), Maddie Howell (11 points) and Jilly Howell (10 points).
Unlike the boys, though, the girls were able to win on Saturday afternoon, pulling away from Section IV’s Corning 61-43 as it jumped out to an 18-4 lead on the Hawks through one period and never got caught.
Again, Wilbur led the way, earning 24 points to go with nine rebounds, with Young getting 18 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two assists. Polky earned 11 points to go with six rebounds and six assists. B’ville faces Henninger and Fayetteville-Manlius late this week.
