If any single person out there doubted about the Westhill boys basketball team’s resolve to defend the Section III, state and Federation Class B titles it earned a year ago, all they had to do was watch Tuesday’s game at Christian Brothers Academy, and those doubts would go away fast.
With nothing to play for since the top seed for the sectional Class B tournament was in place, the state no. 1-ranked Warriors, refreshed from a 10-day hiatus and eager to go, controlled matters from start to finish on the Brothers’ home court and cruised to a 65-51 victory.
Originally, these teams were supposed to play on Feb. 9, but a snowstorm caused a postponement. Since Westhill had no other regular-season games left, it was left with plenty of time to practice and stew, since CBA had to play that week against Homer (it won) and Bishop Ludden (it lost).
Had the trip to CBA not been made up, the Warriors would have gone 18 days between games. It finished league play Feb. 6 with an 87-59 romp over Solvay and, with a first-round bye, would not appear in the sectional Class B tournament until Tuesday’s quarterfinal against South Jefferson or General Brown.
Given all that, Westhill was quite eager to get going again, and it still carried the sting of that 49-48 defeat to Henninger Jan. 31 at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall, especially Tyler Reynolds, who scored just four points against the Black Knights.
Against CBA, Reynolds topped that Henninger total in the first quarter alone, getting six points, but the real story was the way Westhill’s trademark man-to-man pressure stifled the Brothers on possession after possession, leading to a quick 20-6 lead.
The Warriors kept adding to that margin – and did so, remarkably, without a point from Jordan Roland until 2:31 was left in the half. This total team effort helped Westhill carry a 41-21 lead to the break.
Throughout the second half, the Warriors protected its lead as CBA tried to cut into that margin, only to have Westhill answer every time, capped by a pair of late 3-pointers from Reynolds and nearly perfect (16-for-17) free throw shooting.
Reynolds finished with 23 points, while Roland, even without making a 3-pointer, had 12 of his 16 points in the second half. The real happy surprise was seeing Dan O’Connell, normally a defensive specialist, hurt CBA with a season-best 13 points. The Brothers got 15 points from Dan Damico and 11 points from Monte Stroman.
As Westhill rests, Solvay, the no. 10 seed in the Class B sectional bracket, visits no. 7 seed Canastota in Friday night’s opening round.
But this follows a 66-45 defeat to Phoenix on Tuesday, a game where the Firebirds started on an 18-4 run and never let the Bearcats get closer. Blake Bagozzi had 13 points, with Mike Yaizzo adding nine points and Joe Reale six points. Zach Sisera led Phoenix with 18 points.
