Again, the winter weather caused some havoc with schedules, including those of Baldwinsville’s basketball teams, who each saw their games with Auburn snowed out last Tuesday night – but on-court activity would resume soon enough.
When things cleared out, the boys Bees made up that game against the Maroons one night later, and for three quarters all went well until a late comeback by Auburn made things quite nervous at the end.
B’ville still prevailed, 63-62, quite glad that it had adjusted to the game’s fast tempo. Taking a 37-34 lead into the third quarter, the Bees appeared to put the Maroons away in that frame, going on an 18-6 run based on some of its best defensive work of the season..
Yet it almost fell apart as Auburn, led by Kaleb Cook’s hot shooting (most of his 24 points came from five 3-pointers), charged at the end, only to see its rally fall a single point short as the Bees earned its third victory of the season.
David Cerqua matched Adam Seguin’s team-high total of 14 points, the attack much more balanced than in weeks past. Seguin added six rebounds as Jordan Fragale earned 11 points, nine assists, three rebounds and two steals. Casey Pluff contributed seven points and Alex Robinson earned six points.
In a non-league game at Whitesboro two nights later, the Bees led most of the way, toppling the Warriors 68-56. a 17-8 first-quarter run got B’ville out in front, and unlike with Auburn, it maintained that margin, withstanding all of Whitesboro’s attempts to make up ground.
It did so mainly because Fragale was on fire, earning 29 points to go with seven assists and four steals. Seguin had 10 points, five rebounds and three assists, with Cerqua continuing to show his improvement by earning 11 points. Pluff got nine points and Dominic Samoraj added six points as Josh Gregory led the Warriors with 19 points.
Meanwhile, the B’ville girls basketball team made up its home game with Auburn on Thursday night and welcomed having a relative breather, nearly doubling up the Maroons and winning by a 72-40 margin.
A 19-8 push through the first quarter helped B’ville gain control, and it kept pulling further away, seeing Riley Carlucci resume her dominance in the paint, earning 18 points and 19 rebounds, plus four assists.
Emily Pascale earned 15 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals, while Kaylee Lammers earned 11 points and four rebounds. Jenna Costello earned eight points and three rebounds as Carolyn Brussel earned six points, five rebounds and three assists. Mackenzie Schaffner contributed six rebounds.
This clinched a winning regular-season record for B’ville (10-5) before it travels to Cicero-North Syracuse on Monday night, with Nottingham visiting on Friday. The boys Bees, who doubled its win total for the winter by toppling Auburn and Whitesboro, goes for three in a row next Friday night at Nottingham.
