In separate venues Tuesday night, West Genesee’s pair of basketball teams emerged with a mixed verdict in closely-fought games against Baldwinsville.
Up at the Baker High School gymnasium, the Wildcats blew a 20-point second-half lead, only to gain it all back in a wild overtime period to beat the Bees 87-71 and improve to 2-2 on the season.
Meanwhile, back in Camillus, the girls Wildcats could not make anything happen down the stretch, allowing B’ville to escape with a 39-36 win.
WG expected success on the boys side, despite its modest start, for it was well-rested in comparison to B’ville, who had just lost to Central Square the night before in the consolation game of the Fulton Savings Bank Tournament.
Sure enough, the Wildcats dominated the first half, especially in a 23-11 second quarter, and had a 47-27 edge early in the third quarter. At that point, the only question seemed to be what the final margin would be.
That became moot after B’ville, switching defenses and forcing a rash of WG turnovers, closed the period on a 16-6 run to slice the deficit in half. That surge continued into the fourth quarter as, down 65-57, B’ville reeled off eight unanswered points and caused a 65-65 tie.
With 40 seconds left, Corey Herrington hit two free throws, temporarily putting the Wildcats back in front 67-65. Just as it was about to survive, though, a Kevin Roy steal led to a Chris Thayer basket on the other end and, at 67-67, the teams went to four minutes of overtime.
Only in the OT did the Wildcats settle down, as Brian Burns’ 3-pointer and Tyler Carr’s three-point play restored the lead. Then, with the score 77-71, B’ville’s protest over a foul led to two technical fouls and five converted free throws that settled the outcome.
When it all was done, Nick Wood had put home 25 points to lead WG’s cause, while Burns had 15 points, Carr 13 points and Colin Monroe 12 points. All of Herrington’s eight points came at the free-throw line. B’ville had Mike Guinta produce 21 points, while Roy (14 points) and Chris Whelan (13 points) also hit double figures.
While all this was going on, the WG girls team was trying to beat Baldwinsville for the second time in 11 days, having rallied for a 50-46 win back on Dec. 3 on the Bees’ home court.
The Wildcats roared out to a 9-2 lead, but B’ville caught up by the early part of the second quarter and, with constant defensive pressure, contained the hosts enough so that WG trailed 24-19 at the break.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats pushed back, briefly taking the lead 29-28 before the Bees went back in front. Down 38-34, the Wildcats cut it to two on Gabby Datellas’ layup with 3:09 left, but it would not score again, despite numerous chances to tie or win in the game in the final seconds of regulation.
Deanna Apps had 13 points, but no other WG player had more than the six points put up by Carly DiCocco. Meanwhile, B’ville sophomores Maggie Monnat and Claire Monnat led the other side, as Maggie earned 13 points and Claire added 12 points.
