Now was the time for a quartet of area high school boys basketball teams to take their plunge into the Section III Class B playoffs.
Again, Westhill was the featured attraction, defending its sectional and state titles and holding the top seed as it welcomed no. 16 seed Skaneateles for last Saturday’s sectional opener.
At full strength, and primed for another title run, the Warriors handled the Lakers 81-53, a more lopsided result than the 68-49 victory it earned at Skaneateles earlier this month.
Setting a quick pace, Westhill led by double digits before the second quarter and then used a 20-8 push to pull further away, expanding the margin to 43-21 by the time they hit the intermission.
It got to 70-39 before the Warriors eased up in the fourth quarter, the Warriors having hit on 14 3-pointers. Sean Dadey had five of them on his way to 21 points overall.
Zechariah Brown connected four times be yond the arc on his way to 14 points. John Geer’s trio of 3-pointers led to 13 points as Owen Matukas gained 11 points, with Holden Carroll and Ryan Gilmartin each earning eight points.
Jordan-Elbridge, after its best regular season in recent memory (going 13-7), found itself with the no. 9 seed and traveling to Buckley Gym to face no. 8 seed Cazenovia in its opening-round game last Friday.
It proved an enthusiastic effort, and the Eagles were in the fight until the final minute, when things finally got away and J-E lost, 58-51, to the Lakers, who advanced to face Westhill (a team it beat in January when Dadey was injured) in the quarterfinals.
Way back on Nov. 28 in the season opener, the Lakers had beaten J-E 58-42, but the Eagles had vastly improved since that point, putting together its own seven-game win streak in January and finishing the regular season 13-7 overall.
And J-E wasn’t fazed when Cazenovia jumped out to a 19-10 first-quarter lead in the playoff rematch. Instead, the Eagles clamped down and, controlling the second period, roared out in front 27-26 by halftime.
For most of the third quarter, it would go back and forth, but the Lakers inched back in front 40-37 just before the period ended on a timely basket and free throw from Thomas Bragg.
But they were still tied, 48-48, when Cazenovia’s Drew Johnson made a basket, drew a foul, converted the ensuing free throw. When Dan Kent’s 3-point shot found the net, J-E trailed, 54-48, with a minute to play.
Though the Eagles cut the margin to 54-51, free throws sealed the win for the Lakers as Johnson and Bragg led the way with 21 points apiece.
Jeremiah Sparks didn’t match some of the big numbers he put up this winter, but still had 16 points. Aidan Carpenter got 14 points, with Collin Barrigar hitting three 3-pointers as he and Dakota Holbrook both finished with nine points.
Also on the road, Marcellus, as the no. 12 seed, had to visit no. 5 seed Homer, but unlike J-E the game never was in question as the Mustangs were ousted by the Trojans 70-42.
Without question, Homer, 14-5 going into the game, remembered that Marcellus surprised them 56-53 on Dec. 12, and two months later exacted revenge, getting all 10 players that saw action to earn at least one field goal as Steve Walter led with 19 points.
The Mustangs could not match that depth, even though Michael Jarvi (12 points) and Grayson Hoag (nine points) hit seven 3-pointers between them. Connor Wixson added 10 points as Marcellus ended its season with a 9-12 record.
Just to get to its game with Westhill, Skaneateles had to first upend Solvay last Thursday night, and the Bearcats, stricken by its fourth-quarter collapse in a loss to Phoenix two nights earlier, could not get going in a 77-47 defeat to the Lakers.
Having ended Cazenovia’s nine-game win streak to get a sectional playoff berth, Skaneateles maintained that momentum by blitzing Solvay from the outset.
Trailing 24-4 after one quarter, the Bearcats could not recover, with only Jaimen Bliss (13 points) hitting double figures as Justin Scott added seven points. Tommy Reed and Justin McClanahan led Skaneateles with 18 points apiece as Jack Canty added 15 points.
When Skaneateles lost to Westhill, it put the Warriors against those other Lakers from Cazenovia in Tuesday’s quarterfinal, with the winner to face Homer or Oneida in the semifinals Saturday at SRC Arena.
