The Marcellus boys basketball team earned, by far, its biggest victory of the season last Wednesday night as it went to Syracuse Academy of Science and, with a fourth-quarter comeback, stunned the Atoms 72-71.

SAS had knocked off then-unbeaten Bishop Grimes on Jan. 17, but the Atoms, playing its third game in four days, twice squandered big margins as Marcellus scored 27 second-quarter points to pull within one, 37-36, at halftime, and then made a similar rally in the fourth quarter.

Outscoring the Atoms 19-13 in that last frame, the Mustangs pulled it out as Nick Femano, with 15 points, led a well-balanced attack. Tom Fiacchi had 13 points, with Jerrod Gates (12 points) and Ben Fedorenko (11 points) also hitting double figures as they, along with Nate Kellar (seven points), made up for the struggles of Mike Melnyczuk, who was held to four points. SAS lost despite 21 points from Symir Torrence and 15 points from Khari Odoms and Nessiah Smith.

Now the Mustangs would face Solvay on Friday, still needing two more wins to be playoff-eligible as the Bearcats were one win away from sectional qualification.

But all of the Marcellus momentum quickly halted as the Bearcats bashed the Mustangs 58-39, playing superb defense all night at it never let the visitors score more than 12 point in any single period and used a 17-9 third-quarter push to settle matters.

Four Solvay players reached double figures, led by Sammy Kippen, who had 14 points. Mike Yaizzo produced 12 points, while Blake Bagozzi and Jake Dippold gained 11 points apiece. Colin Lucio added six points as Jerrod Gates got 14 points for Marcellus, helped by Melnyczuk (nine points) and Kyle Cangemi (eight points) as Femano got six points.

Solvay had just defeated Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 52-37 on Thursday, a game that was close until the Bearcats outscored the Rebels 20-8 in the fourth quarter. Dippold, who finished with 16 points, led that charge, while Bagozzi had 11 points and Sammy Kippen added nine points.

Then Marcellus faced Utica Proctor for the second time in as many Saturdays, falling again to the Raiders 85-50, though most of that margin was built in the second half as the Mustangs only trailed by four, 38-34, at intermission.

Even with Melnyczuk’s 14 points and help from Fiacchi (10 points), Gates (eight points) and Kellar (seven points), Marcellus couldn’t keep Proctor from dominating the second half, led again by Jalen Hawkins, who poured in 28 points as Landon Johnson added 14 points and Orion Anyango 11 points.

Jordan-Elbridge, taking its shot at Bishop Grimes last Wednesday, lost, 71-48, the game decided in the second and third quarters, when the Cobras broke out of a 17-17 tie and outscored the Eagles 45-13 in those two frames.

Brandon Macvicz led J-E with nine points, while Aiden Carpenter and LaMatt Chisholm had seven points apiece and Mason Barrigar added six points. Five Grimes players reached double figures as A.C. Ater, Johnny Wike, Mark Shattuck and Dom Delvecchio each finished with 11 points and Shawn Gashi added 10 points.

Then J-E got shut down in Friday’s 45-32 loss to Cazenovia, seeing an early lead vanish when the Lakers outscored them 16-7 in the second quarter. The Eagles could not recover, though Macvicz led both sides with 10 points and Dale Wagner got seven points.