ONONDAGA COUNTY – Strong recent performances have brought Jamesville-DeWitt and Bishop Grimes to the forefront in area boys basketball, with the Red Rams situated at no. 18 in last week’s state Class A rankings.
However, it was East Syracuse Minoa and Fayetteville-Manlius who provided the local highlight when the two neighbors faced one another last Tuesday night and the Spartans edged past the Hornets 54-53.
During a strong first half, ESM was able to consistently produce against F-M’s defense and built a 32-23 advantage. Every bit of it was needed, as it turned out.
Battling back, the Hornets almost caught up, only to get stopped as the Spartans, led by Tyler Quarry’s 18 points and Anthony Bryant’s 17 points, reached the .500 mark at 5-5. Pacing F-M, Chris Shanguhyia finished with 17 points, just ahead of Chris Cleary’s total of 14 points.
This happened as Bishop Grimes, going into the week at 6-3, found itself run over by Westhill in a 76-50 defeat, the Warriors bouncing back quite well from the 63-44 loss J-D gave them on Jan. 5.
A 23-10 start put Westhill in control. At first, Grimes responded well, nearly catching up as it only trailed 32-30 at halftime, but the Warriors regained its scoring touch early in the second half and then closed 26-8 to make it more lopsided.
Again, too much of the Cobras’ attack leaned on Nate Abernethy, who had 23 points as no one else got more than Eddie Koroma’s eight points. By contrast, Westhill got 23 points from Kam Langdon and 15 points apiece from Eli Prince and Charlie DeMore.
In Friday’s action, ESM dominated against Central Square, nearly doubling up the Spartans in a 67-37 win where it built a 55-18 lead through three quarters. Tommy Clonan led with 13 points, ahead of Quarry’s 12 points and Bryant’s 10 points.
F-M, hosting reigning sectional Class AA champion Liverpool, lost 53-39 to the Warriors, most of the margin coming from a second quarter where the Hornets had just two points.
Cleary had nine points and Sugar seven points, but no F-M player hit double figures, while Liverpool got 18 points from Alex Trombley and 16 points from Freddie Fowler.
Christian Brothers Academy, with a “Holy War” against Bishop Ludden looming late this week, suffered yet another close defeat last Wednesday when it fell to Nottingham 53-49.
Close calls against Marcellus and Chittenango had frustrated the Brothers. Here, all of it stemmed from a second quarter where the Bulldogs outscored CBA 22-10 to erase an early deficit.
Despite a late comeback, the Brothers could not quite make up all the ground, despite Tavin Penix and Ethan Harris getting 16 points apiece. Denarius McCurty paced Nottingham with 24 points and Steyvon Jones added 12 points.
Manlius Pebble Hill saw its struggles continue last Tuesday with a 59-32 defeat to LaFayette, who built a 43-19 lead through three periods as Dan Porter (12 points), Ben Ryan and Carter Chapman (11 points each) led the Lancers. A 52-31 loss to Syracuse OnTech followed on Friday night.
