The Bishop Ludden boys basketball team’s 39-point destruction of Chittenango last Tuesday night began another wild week that featured players and in out of the lineup and solid efforts despite all that shuffling.
Ludden was back home Friday to face Phoenix. Frank Smith was back, too, from missing four games due to disciplinary reasons, and his presence was required as the Gaelic Knights fought past the Firebirds 40-30.
Two starters, John Rooney and Jared Littlejohn, sat out due to illness, which gave 3-9 Phoenix a chance to believe. Sure enough, the Firebirds rallied from an early deficit to force a 24-24 halftime tie.
But the Gaelic Knights’ defense took over in the second half, holding the Firebirds to a single free throw in the third quarter and six points overall.
As Smith worked his way to 10 points, Phoenix paid for putting its defense on Rick Montgomery (nine points) as Jim Sierotnik, hitting on five 3-pointers, finished with 19 points, nearly half his team’s output.
Rooney, but not Littlejohn, would return for Saturday’s visit from Rochester-area power Bishop Kearney, the state’s top-ranked Class B team. Ludden would be tough, but still lost by a score of 60-53.
In a tough first half, the Gaelic Knights kept right up with Kearney and even sneaked into a 25-23 lead. But Kearney went ahead for good in the third quarter, outscoring Ludden 18-11, and withstanding all of the hosts’ comeback attempts.
Montgomery, like Sierotnik the night before, had five 3-pointers, and 17 points overall, while Smith earned 12 points and Rooney got 11 points. Omar Osbourne picked up six points.
And it just gets tougher for Ludden as it takes a 10-4 record to Binghamton Tuesday and will be playing Thursday at defending state Class A champion Jamesville-DeWitt, who just went to 13-0 by beating New York City power Lincoln last Saturday in Manhattan.
