MANLIUS – No matter what he does anywhere else in his athletic career, Eli Taft will forever hold a place in Baldwinsville boys basketball lore for a single shot.
It came in the final moments of regulation in aturday’s opening-round game of the Section III Class AA playoffs, where Taft fired from long range, found the target and gave the Bees a 58-55 victory.
Four quarters of tense post-season basketball between two league rivals who had also played close splitting a pair of regular-season meetings left B’ville and F-M knotted at 55-55 with 6.7 seconds left.
Inbounding the ball under his own basket, Greg Marinelli passed it to Taft, who dribbled down the left side past a defender. From more than 20 feet out near the left corner, Taft took his shot – and swished it.
While the Hornets sat stunned, B’ville’s players celebrated with Taft not just the win, but the completion of a memorable second-half comeback and the continuation of its season into a sectional quarterfinal Tuesday against no. 2 seed West Genesee.
Little that happened in the first half suggested this outcome. F-M got the tempo it wanted and leaned heavily on its star senior, Trevor Roe, to steadily establish a lead that grew to double digits.
Trailing 37-26 at the break, the Bees adjusted its defense to something more resembling the tight unit that gave so many others trouble throughout the season and, by the fourth quarter, only trailed 48-44.
It took more great B’ville defense down the stretch as Roe, despite amassing 31 points, could not get the baskets he needed to keep his team in front, allowing the Bees to get even – and for Taft to win it.
For the day, Taft had 11 points as Jason Bifulco led the Bees with 18 points. Matt Young and Ethan Hilliar joined in with nine points apiece as, other than Roe, only Daniel Stark (11 points) hit double figures for F-M.
Had the traditional post-season system been in place, B’ville may have needed to beat Jamesville-DeWitt in last Monday’s regular-season finale in order to have the .400 overall record needed.
With the pressure off and an open tournament format on hand, the Bees were able to build a 24-20 halftime lead, withstand the Red Rams catching up in the late stages of regulation and hold J-D to just two points in overtime on the way to winning 56-49.
Overcoming 27 points by Rams standout Anthony Stickle, B’ville had Taft lead the way with 20 points, helped by Marinelli, who had 13 points, and Bifulco, who had six of his 10 points from the free-throw line.
