ONONDAGA COUNTY – In a four-day span to wind up 2023, the Baldwinsville boys basketball team would play three times, looking to bank more victories before a mid-season break.
It all began at East Syracuse Minoa’s holiday tournament, where in the opening round Dec. 27 the Bees did just enough to get a 51-48 victory over Watertown.
Again getting out to a good start, B’ville led 16-7 through one period. The margin kept growing through the game’s middle stages before the Cyclones, trailing 42-29 going to the fourth quarter, finally saw some shots fall.
Still, the Bees held on, paced by Tyler Nilsen’s double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds. M.J. Young had 15 points, four rebounds and three assists, with TeiShawn Wade got 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. Ben Leaton contributed seven rebounds.
This led to the Dec. 28 final against host ESM, who had handled Whitesboro 77-51 in the other half of the opening round. A combination of stifling defense and timely scoring from several players helped the Bees beat the Spartans 44-32.
Young ruled in the early going, scoring his team’s first six points and adding a steal and dunk before the first quarter was over as B’ville, who never trailed, built a quick 13-5 edge.
Even as the game bogged down, it fit the Bees, who closed lanes for ESM and forced them into hurried shots that, even at close range, rarely found the target.
Still, a scoring drought midway through the second half left B’ville clinging to a 34-28 lead before timely 3-pointers by Greg Marinelli and Nick Hollingshead as the shot clock ran out thwarted any possible ESM comeback.
Though Young cooled off, he still had 16 points overall. It was Nilsen, with 17 points, who led all scorers as Hollingshead finished with eight points and, on the Spartans’ side, only Tyler Quarry (11 points) hit double figures.
A home game last Saturday against reigning state Class B champion Westhill would follow. B’ville, looking to improve to 7-2, instead found itself expertly taken down by the Warriors in a 69-46 defeat.
Quite unlike the ESM game, the Bees’ modest production proved a liability, Westhill steadily solving B’ville’s defensive riddle and building a 32-18 halftime edge that it enhanced by outscoring B’ville 22-8 in the third quarter.
Matt Pope did hit four 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 13 points. Young got 11 points, with Hollingshead adding eight points. Westhill got 17 points from Eli Prince, 16 points from Kam Langdon and 13 points from Charlie DeMore.
Now the Bees would get a chance to regroup and practice before resuming its season Tuesday night against visiting Corcoran, with a trip to Auburn to follow on Friday.
