There was no way the Baldwinsville boys basketball team was going to ease into the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division slate.

Knowing it would have face each of its seven league opponents two times apiece, the Bees would face one of the best when it hosted Henninger last Friday night at the Baker High School Gym.

It turned into a fast-paced affair, one where B’ville kept up for a while, but ultimately saw things get away in an 88-76 loss to the Black Knights.

These teams remembered that they had met in the opening round of last winter’s Section III Class AA playoffs, a game won by Henninger on its way to reaching the title game before falling to Liverpool.

At the outset, B’ville was red-hot from the field, fighting its way to a 22-18 lead through one quarter. But as the Black Knights kept up that pace, the Bees tailed off and were outscored by a combined 42-17 margin in the next two periods.

During a wild fourth quarter, B’ville managed an astonishing 37 points, yet could not catch up as Casey Pluff hit five 3-pointers on his way to 20 points overall.

Jacob Marshall had 18 points, with Jon Starling getting 13 points. Eric Casey and Alec Williams each had six points.

Henninger put four players in double figures, led by Jadan Graves, who had 19 points, and Travis Grey,  who got 18 points. Jonah Alston (15 points) and David Straughter (11 points) helped out.

B’ville would take a 1-3 record to Corcoran on Tuesday before hosting West Genesee Friday night.