If anyone needed an explanation as to why the Solvay boys basketball team could break a 25-year Section III championship drought, Monday night’s memorable 74-69 overtime victory over Westhill provided it.
So many things could have derailed the Bearcats, both early in this game and then late in regulation and the four-minute extra period, but Solvay weathered all of them and scored the game’s final five points to break a 69-69 tie – without its leading scorer on the floor.
Clearly, the Warriors were far from the same team the Bearcats handled 71-56 on Jan. 2, having gone 7-1 since that game and moved into no. 25 in the state Class B rankings, eight spots behind Solvay at no. 17. And Westhill’s newfound confidence manifested itself in a first half that would have sank most opponents.
Zach Brown set the tone, hitting all four of his 3-pointers in the first quarter, and it didn’t stop there, the Warriors eventually connecting nine times beyond the arc in the first half.
As if that wasn’t enough, Westhill’s vaunted defense appeared ready to shut Solvay down, shutting them out in the last four-plus minutes of the second quarter on the way to establishing a 43-25 margin at the break.
Still trailing 45-30 in the third quarter, Solvay completely turned the game around, fueled by Brock Bagozzi, the senior guard burning Westhill for 16 points in that period to erase most of its deficit.
Not stopping there, Bagozzi, along with Elijah Wright and Jaimen Bliss, pushed the Bearcats in front early in the fourth quarter, and it was up 60-52 with four minutes left, having gone on a 30-7 run.
But Brown switched the momentum again with eight consecutive points, and by the time Elliott Rouse converted with 2:20 left, Westhill had tied it again, 64-64.
A tense exchange followed, the Warriors going in front 66-65 when Rouse hit with less than a minute left. A Wright free throw pulled Solvay even 66-66, and when the Bearcats could not get a shot off in the final seconds of regulation, it went to OT.
They were still tied, 69-69, when Bagozzi fouled out with 1:19 left in the extra period. Again, the Bearcats appeared to have absorbed a decisive blow, but again it responded in a convincing manner.
Wright forced a steal, then powered in a layup with 53 seconds to play. On Westhill’s next possession, Antonio Gonzalez made a big block, the Bearcats ran down the clock and Will Evans, in the game for Bagozzi, hit a lay-up, was fouled and sank a clinching free throw.
For the night, Wright had 23 points, just behind Bagozzi’s 26 points as Bliss got 18 points. Brown finished with 24 points, helped by 14 points from Rouse and 12 points from freshman Luke Gilmartin.
This exciting win, plus clinching the OHSL Liberty National division regular-season title, made Wednesday’s 66-61 defeat to Fayetteville-Manlius in the regular-season finale a bit easier to take.
Bagozzi was held to nine points as Bliss got 20 points and Wright 14 points. Ethan Page led the Hornets with 17 points as Charlie Gadsden, James Madill (12 points each) and Luke Davison (10 points) also hit double figures.
Now, with its 16-4 overall record, Solvay would wait out two full weeks before finding out on Feb. 19 where it would start the sectional Class B tournament, hoping that, by that point, Justin Scott would return from the injury that sidelined him in the second half of the regular season.
