Whether the majority of the area’s high school boys basketball teams would pull out of their doldrums in time remained an open question deep into January.
Jamesville-DeWitt could strengthen its position with a home win last Wednesday against Central Square, but could not pull it off as the Red Rams lost to the Redhawks 61-53.
Central Square started the season 7-0, but had just taken narrow back-to-back defeats to PSLA-Fowler and Auburn by a combined five points. Determined not to drop three in a row, the Redhawks came out strong against J-D, using a 15-6 push through the second quarter to build a 31-21 halftime lead.
Try as it could, the Rams were unable to get on track or get much production beyond the trio of Marcus Johnson, Payton Shumpert and Max Schulman as Johnson had 22 points, Schulman 14 points (including three 3-pointers) and Shumpert 10 points.
Slade Springer, with 18 rebounds to go with his 11 points, led the Redhawks as Tim Giblin put in a team-high 19 points, with Cooper Colesante adding 14 points and Brogan Laux getting 10 points.
Now J-D had to go to PSLA-Fowler, whom it beat 76-72 back in December. The rematch featured a short-handed Rams lineup that got overwhelmed in a 73-44 loss to the Falcons.
Already off to a good start, PSLA-Fowler took charge by outscoring J-D 37-16 over the course of the second and third quarters. And it spread things around as Davonta Stackhouse had 20 points, Dennis Jones got 19 points and Yaret Osorio had 16 points.
Meanwhile, the Rams, without Takuya LaClair in the lineup, had long slump, with only Teleak Robinson (13 points) reaching double figures. Preston Shumpert Jr. had seven points, with Johnson held to six points and Payton Shumpert getting just five points.
At least J-D was able to break the skid on Saturday, going to Oswego and beating the Buccaneers 76-51 as Payton Shumpert broke out for 27 points, helped by Matt Cieplicki, who got seven of his 14 points at the free-throw line. Preston Shumpert had 11 points.
Contrast the Rams’ ups and downs with the smoother path that East Syracuse Minoa took last week.
First, the Spartans took apart Oswego 68-34 last Wednesday night. After steadily building a double-digit halftime lead, the Spartans outscored the Buccaneers 38-15 in a lopsided second half.
At the forefront of this effort, Dennis Benjack and Colton Cwikla each finished with 16 points, while Gabe Holloman had 13 points. Kevin Richardson contributed 10 points.
Even with this, ESM needed to continue to play well to recover from its 3-6 start. Hosting Fulton Friday night, the Spartans found itself in a defensive battle, but still edged the Red Raiders 45-42.
At the outset, ESM was stingy, limiting Fulton to five points in the first quarter. Even with that, the Spartans trailed, 35-33, going to the fourth quarter, where it again contained the Red Raiders and went back in front for good.
Benjack poured in 13 points, helped by Cwikla and Richardson, who had eight points apiece. Holloman and Devan Mascato-Buffaloe had six points apiece. Fulton’s Jake Gugula led all scorers with 17 points.
Manlius-Pebble Hill had its closest call of the season so far, staying with Fabius-Pompey for much of a 57-41 defeat as it ultimately paid for getting held to two points by the Falcons in the second quarter.
Dan Mezzalingua led the Trojans, pouring in 21 points and adding four rebounds. Stew Falso had 10 rebounds as Alex Abrams got 11 points, six assists and three rebounds.
A 106-65 loss to state Class C no. 15-ranked Weedsport followed on Friday, with Mezzalingua still earning 23 points as Falso had 13 points and Ahmed El-Hindi had 11 points. All 14 Warriors players got at least one field goal, with Jake O’Connor leading them as he poured in 31 points.
