Just in time for 2007, the West Genesee boys basketball team found its rhythm again, roaring to the championship of the Rosemary Corcoran Bishop Ludden Holiday Classic — and punishing the hosts in the process.
WG met Bishop Ludden in Thursday night’s championship game and took command from the start, never allowing the Gaelic Knights to join the conversation and emerging with a 66-45 victory.
In order to quiet the Ludden crowd, WG relied on hot shooting to roar to a 24-10 lead by the end of the first quarter.
As the Gaelic Knights struggled to establish its attack, the margin grew to 40-21 by halftime, and though the Wildcats could not maintain that pace all night, it maintained the comfortable margin.
Kevin Wadach, named tournament MVP, finished with 15 points, most of it from three 3-point field goals. Jack Conboy put up a team-high 16 points, while Casey Reale and Brian O’Leary each had eight points. Chris Cruz had seven points, joining O’Leary and Wadach on the All-Tournament team. Nick Aiken also had seven points.
George Eunice paced Ludden with 11 points, with Daquan Grobsmith (nine points) close behind. Andre Knighton and Wendall Williams put up six points apiece.
In order to have this final, WG and Ludden both breezed through their respective opening-round tests on Wednesday night.
Going first, the Wildcats had no trouble with Johnson City, a Section IV school from the Binghamton suburbs, blasting its way to a 71-40 victory to end its three-game skid.
Having not played in more than a week (its Dec. 22 trip to Utica Proctor was postponed), WG was fresh and eager, as evidenced by the 60-28 margin it built over the game’s first three quarters.
Everyone got a chance to play, as Cruz finished with 18 points and Wadach added 13 points. Conboy (nine points) and O’Leary (seven points) also produced, with Jeff Dzwonkowski coming off the bench to score six points.
Following WG to the court, Ludden dealt the same kind of punishment to Markham Prep in the other opening-round game, winning by a score of 82-58.
Erupting quickly, the Gaelic Knights were up 22-9 after one quarter and maintained that high-scoring pace for the rest of the night.
Knighton, with 20 points, led the way, as Mike Sisson (13 points) and Eunice (12 points) also broke into double figures. Grobsmith had eight points, with Wes Valentine adding seven points and Chris Humez and Williams earning six points apiece. Knighton and Grobsmith would both later make the All-Tournament team.
This was Ludden’s second win in a row, following its 70-38 romp over Oswego on Dec. 23, a game where the Gaelic Knights were up 51-19 after gaining its best first-half total of the season. Eleven different Ludden players scored, as Valentine put up 12 points, Williams added 11 points and Grobsmith gained 10 points.
At 4-6 as it reached the midway point of the season, Ludden meets up with “Holy War” rival CBA Friday night, just before playing Cicero-North Syracuse Saturday in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at LeMoyne College.
WG heads into the new year at 5-4, hoping to improve on that Wednesday night when it hosts Fowler.
