Despite a season-opening defeat to Class A power Cortland on Dec. 2, the Westhill boys basketball team emerged with some confidence, knowing that, with four new starters, it would only improve as the winter progressed.
In fact, the Warriors would break into the win column in its next outing as it pulled away from Mexico 55-41 in Wednesday night’s home opener.
The game was book-ended by two streaks from Westhill’s vaunted man-to-man defense. Never trailing, the Warriors kept the Tigers off the board in the first 3:22 and, in the final 5:21, also shut out Mexico while closing on an 8-0 run.
Between all that was a back-and-forth pattern where Westhill would get a lead, only to have Mexico catch up. This was especially true in the second quarter, when a 23-13 margin vanished as the Tigers closed the half on an 11-1 run to tie it, 24-24.
It remained close throughout the third period, too, but Mexico got itself into serious foul trouble. By game’s end, three Tigers had fouled out, which had a lot to do with the Warriors’ late getaway.
Seniors Ryan Conroy, with 15 points, and Joe Meluni, with 13 points, paced Westhill’s attack. But the real surprise was the contributions from freshman Jordan Roland, who came off the bench to earn 12 points, including a key 3-pointer from the corner late in the third quarter.
P.J. Gebhardt added seven points as Pat Twiss (14 points), Nick Dolbear (13 points) and Jacob Deno (12 points) led Mexico’s effort.
Before playing Westhill, Mexico had defeated Marcellus on Dec. 2. Decimated by injuries to its top players, the Mustangs fell again last Tuesday in a 77-53 decision to East Syracuse-Minoa.
Despite steady production, Marcellus still trailed, 40-29, at halftime, and could not keep up with the Spartans’ torrid pace.
Nick Sinay, in defeat, led both sides with 23 points, hitting on five 3-pointers. Wyatt Stehle added 13 points, with Ben Powers and Duncan Merritt earning six points apiece. ESM saw four players hit double figures as Tyler Johnson led with 13 points, with Casey Sullivan, Jeff McDuffie and Sean Richardson each adding 11 points.
