At least through the early stages of this abbreviated 2021 season, the West Genesee boys basketball team has not seen its form tail off from seasons past.
In fact, the Wildcats were dominant in last Tuesday’s game against Corcoran. This clash of the last two Section III Class AA champions was lopsided as WG put away the Cougars 74-42.
Having lost several top players from 2019-20 title run, Corcoran had lost both of its first two games, and the Wildcats didn’t let up, either, steadily pulling away until it had a 69-27 lead through three quarters.
Adam Dudzinski, with 20 points, and Jack Dalgety, with 16 points, led the way. Christian Amica had seven points as Kerrick Albright, James Tully and Joe Sparks had six points apiece.
It was much closer in Thursday’s game against Baldwinsville, a game where WG’s defense seized the spotlight most of the way and keyed a 49-40 victory over the Bees.
A 16-8 push through the second quarter erased B’ville’s early advantage. Then it kept the Bees quiet for long stretches of the second half to prevent any kind of comeback.
Dudzinski and Maxwell Dennington all but carried the offense, each of them connecting on three 3-pointers as Dudzinski got 20 points and Dennington earned 14 points.
To complete a perfect week and improve to 4-0 overall, WG took full command in the second half of last Saturday’s game against East Syracuse Minoa, erasing an early deficit and handling the Spartans 67-45.
ESM jumped out 17-11 by the end of the first quarter and, led by Nick Brown (who finished with 14 points), the Spartans still carried a 27-25 advantage to the break.
All that seemed to do, though, was provoke the Wildcats to its top form. Improving on defense, WG turned a series of ESM turnovers into baskets and outscored the Spartans 42-18 the rest of the way.
Once more, it was Dudzinski leading the way, his 24 points augmented by having Tully get a season-high 15 points and Dalgety add 13 points.
Bishop Ludden would renew its “Holy War” with Christian Brothers Academy, who had started 3-0 in the wake of winning the Section III Class A championship a season ago.
The Gaelic Knights were tough against the Brothers, but still lost 64-53, never really recovering from a first quarter where CBA bolted out to a 19-10 edge.
Jarin Beauford earned 15 points, with Woi Aman adding 13 points and Grant Baker 11 points. For the Brothers, Dan Anderson led with 22 points, helped by Cody Miller and Sam Haas earning 10 points apiece.
