One defeat, in one tournament, did not make the Westhill boys basketball team any less imposing.
If that message hadn’t gone through prior to last weekend’s Juggler Classic at Utica-Notre Dame, it sure did in those pair of games as the state Class B top-ranked Warriors blitzed through the weekend and made sure a particularly challenging opponent didn’t scare them again.
This was the first tournament appearance for Westhill since it had lost to Philadelphia-area power Roman Catholic in the Stop DWI Tournament in Binghamton on Dec. 28. Unlike that event, the Warriors would not run into any problems in Utica.
The championship game pitted Westhill against the hosts from Utica-Notre Dame. They had met last March in the Section III Class B final at the Carrier Dome, with the Jugglers putting a major scare into the Warriors in a 67-64 decision that eventually propelled Westhill to the state and Federation titles.
Most of the same players were on hand for this rematch, their only chance to meet this winter since UND was moved up to Class A by the section. And it was close again – for a half, before a third-quarter outburst helped Westhill pull away to beat the Jugglers 76-44.
That margin did not reflect what went on in the first two periods. UND, led by Joe Sullivan (who finished with 16 points) and Kevin Warmack (10 points), matched baskets with the Warriors, neither side able to get a cushion, and at halftime it was a 31-31 tie.
But what happened after the break was another matter. Westhill’s trio of Tyler Reynolds, Jordan Roland and Ryan Roland hit on a string of 3-pointers, and the Warriors outscored the Jugglers 27-6 in the third period, all the while increasing its defensive pressure to keep UND from answering.
Reynolds finished with 28 points and five rebounds, while Jordan Roland, the tournament MVP, had 24 points, plus six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Ryan Roland added 13 points as the trio combined to make 11 3-pointers. Jeff Lobello added five assists and five rebounds.
A night earlier, Westhill had routed Nazareth, from Brooklyn, 59-33, holding Nazareth to four points in the first quarter and keeping up that man-to-man pressure the rest of the way.
Jordan Roland, accounting for nearly half of the Warriors’ production, had 25 points, five rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocks. Lobello backed up his eight points with eight rebounds as Reynolds only got seven points, matching Ryan Roland. Brian Daily was productive, too, with six points and six rebounds.
Earlier in the week, Westhill took the measure of a Syracuse Academy of Science that, with a 7-2 start, had managed to join the Warriors in the state Class B rankings in the no. 25 spot.
But as good as the Atoms have proven this winter, it still could not keep up with Westhill, who went to SAS last Tuesday night and prevailed by a 70-40 margin.
These two sides had first met Dec. 17, and the Warriors had won 85-47. The rematch at SAS did not involve numbers as large, and in fact the Warriors nearly squandered its early 18-9 edge, only taking a 27-22 lead to the break.
The Atoms’ hopes for an upset didn’t last long, though as, led by Reynolds, Westhill outscored SAS 27-7 in the third quarter to get away, using its man-to-man defense to hold the Atom’s top player, Jayson Brower, to 16 points.
Reynolds kept drawing contact and converted at the line, earning 10 of his game-high 24 points from free throws. Lobello dished out nine assists to go with his 14 points and three rebounds.
Jordan Roland, kept relatively quiet on the offensive side, still had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. Dan O’Connell did well, too, with eight points and six rebounds.
Before traveling to Utica for the Juggler Classic on the weekend, the Warriors tuned up Thursday night by posting a season-high point total and constantly converting from beyond the arc in a 90-51 romp over Jordan-Elbridge.
All told, Westhill hit on 13 3-pointers, including three from Jordan Roland on his way to 28 points, but Ryan Roland topped him with four 3-pointers that accounted for most of his 14 points.
Mike Burton made a trio of 3-pointers, too, finishing with 11 points overall as Bailey (eight points), Lobello (seven points) and O’Connell (six points) were right behind.
