Onondaga — Much was stacked against the Bishop Ludden boys basketball team and its quest to maintain the upper hand in the “Holy War” with Christian Brothers Academy Saturday night in the featured game of the Zebra Classic at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall.

After all, the Brothers were undefeated (13-0), sitting at no. 6 in the state Class A rankings, and well-rested. The Gaelic Knights had lost three of its previous six games, and were playing for the third time in a 48-hour span.

None of that mattered, though. What did matter was that Mika Adams-Woods was on Ludden’s side – and his career performance, combined with tremendous defense from the entire squad, helped the Gaelic Knights beat CBA again in a 67-58 decision.

From start to finish, Adams-Woods carried Ludden’s offense, the sophomore sensation picking up 37 points, pushing his team out in front early, continuing to strike for key baskets in the game’s middle stages and then hitting key free throws to close it out.

But even Adams-Woods would say that the key to it all was the way the entire team took the game to CBA on the defensive end, and his head coach, Pat Donnelly, agreed.

“Our defensive intensity was the best it’s been all season,” said Donnelly. “We challenged (CBA’s) jump shots throughout the game.

Defense is an old-fashioned basketball virtue, so it only figured that it played such an important role on this night, when the two rivals again donned 1970s Parochial League jerseys – Ludden representing Most Holy Rosary and wearing blue instead of its usual green, CBA representing Assumption, but still partly clad in gold.

Applying close man-to-man pressure, especially on the perimeter, Ludden held CBA to one field goal in the first six minutes, and didn’t let the Brothers hit a single 3-pointer in the entire first half.

continued — Meanwhile, anything CBA attempted against Adams-Woods proved futile. Of the Gaelic Knights’ 11 first-quarter points, 10 came from Adams-Woods, and he had 19 points by halftime, exactly matching the Brothers’ total.

Yet even with an eight-point halftime lead, Ludden felt far from safe. And just as many expected, CBA roared back in the third quarter, going on a 10-0 run to take a 32-31 lead.

Now, for many teams, the fatigue of a third game in as many nights would hit, but Donnelly said the benefit of playing a 10-man rotation was that he could conserve his players’ energy so that it could withstand the grind.

“You’ve just got to gut it out,” said Adams-Woods.

Indeed, that’s what Ludden did, quickly regaining the lead with a 12-3 that involved more of Adams-Woods and also of Joe Connors, who had four of his 12 points in that surge that pushed the Gaelic Knights ahead for good.

“We weathered it (CBA’s run), made a couple of shots and kept our composure” said Donnelly.

The Brothers, who trailed by as much as 11 in the fourth quarter, stayed within range largely on the work of, all people, Adams-Woods’ cousin, Charles Pride, who earned 23 of his 26 points in the second half.

Yet free throws by Adams-Woods, Connors, Will Engelhardt and Ed Walser in the last two minutes helped Ludden hang on, and Adams-Woods said he could keep bragging rights in his own household – at least until the Gaelic Knights face CBA again on Feb. 9.

The reason Ludden was playing three times in as many nights was because a game it was supposed to play in late December at Bishop Kearney got postponed.

They would make it up in Rochester on Thursday night. Having lost to Kearney 67-49 at home five days earlier, the Gaelic Knights knew exactly what to expect in its rematch with the Kings, and despite the hostile setting, it did get close to making a tremendous comeback, even though it ended in a 70-67 defeat.

continued — The first half went back and forth, Ludden grabbing the lead, only to surrender to a Kearney attack that outscored them 26-14 in the second quarter. Though the Gaelic Knights’ defense settled down, it still trailed, 56-43, heading into the fourth quarter.

Then it got interesting, Ludden almost catching the Kings as Adams-Woods ran his total to 27 points and Joe Connors chimed in with 15 points. Jim Grabowski added 12 points, but even with those totals, Kearney held on.

Now the Gaelic Knights had to face Mexico on Friday, hoping for a lopsided victory so that the main players could save some energy for CBA. To some degree, Ludden achieved its goal, mostly leaning on its defense (as it would a night later) as it beat the Tigers 60-40.

Mexico got held to just two points in the first quarter. Ludden gradually picked up its production and led, 29-11, by halftime, maintaining that margin the rest of the way as Adams-Woods poured in 19 points, with Connors and Jim Grabowski each adding eight points. Engelhardt (seven points) and Jack Allen (six points) were close behind.

Even in the excitement of beating CBA, Ludden couldn’t forget that its next game, on Wednesday, will also prove tough as it would visit Jamesville-DeWitt.