If the Baldwinsville boys basketball team wanted to build some confidence for 2008, then a strong showing in last week’s Vince Celi Memorial Tournament at East Syracuse-Minoa would provide the stage to do so.
Sure enough, the Bees would prevail — but it took a dramatic overtime battle with Onondaga to do so, as the Bees fought past the Tigers 76-68 in a terrific championship game on Friday afternoon.
B’ville would lead most of the way in a contest where OCS would offer chase and catch up —only to go off course at the foul line at the worst possible time, giving the Bees a new opportunity it did not waste.
Giving up just two field goals in the game’s first seven minutes, the Bees went ahead 13-5, then saw that margin disappear before an 11-0 run to close the first half gave B’ville a 33-22 edge going to the locker room.
Try as it could, the Bees could not completely contain OCS two-sport star Latavius Murray, who is going to Central Florida on a football scholarship next fall. Murray finished with 24 points and helped The Tigers overcome the Bees’ double-digit edge by the late stages of the third quarter.
Again, the Bees built the lead to seven, 50-43. Again, the Tigers came back, using a 10-2 run to gain its first lead, 53-52, midway through the fourth quarter.
From there, the two sides swapped the lead throughout the rest of regulation. Free throws by Teddy Zabel (for the Tigers) and Brett Botsford (for the Bees) left B’ville ahead, 61-60, and fortunate that OCS had twice missed the front end of one-and-one free-throw chances that could have put the game out of reach.
Instead, with 2.9 seconds to play, Murray went to the line, his team down by one. Again, Murray missed a big foul shot, but he sank the second and, at 61-61, the game went to overtime.
Once there, the Bees took charge. Matt Colbert hit a huge 3-pointer that put B’ville ahead for good, and Botsford tacked on six more points in that frame.
Of Botsford’s 26 points, 21 of them came in the second half and OT, helping him garner tournament MVP honors. Drew Nixon had 14 points before fouling out, while Chris Tomeny gained 13 points and Colbert got 10 points. Colbert and Tomeny joined Botsford and Murray on the All-Tournament team.
Prior to that, In Thursday’s opening round, the Bees met the hosts from ESM and was in complete control, smacking the Spartans around in an 84-49 rout.
Taking charge right away, B’ville held ESM to just five points in the first quarter, then didn’t let up until it had built a 63-25 lead by the end of the third quarter and its starters were on the bench.
Though he didn’t play a full game, Botsford still put up 26 points, while Colbert also proved difficult to contain as he earned 16 points.
Brian Wilson finished with nine points, while Tyler Monnat gained eight points. Steve Carr and Chris Tomeny gained six points apiece. ESM’s Joe Saya led his side with 21 points. Tomeny, Monnat and Botsford each hit on a pair of 3-pointers.
Onondaga beat Vestal 79-75 in the other opening-round game, where Murray poured in 39 points — a number he would not come close to matching against B’ville.
B’ville takes on Oswego Friday night, trying to build its win streak to three against a Buccaneers team that gave defending Section III Class B champion Hannibal its only defeat of the season on Dec. 22.
