Are things beginning to turn around for the Baldwinsville boys basketball team?
At the very least, the Bees pulled off a complete reversal in Friday night’s game against Auburn, using superb defense to put away the Maroons 55-42.
Just 11 days earlier, in the first round of the Vince Celi Memorial Classic at East Syracuse-Minoa, these same two teams met – and Auburn won big, 86-60, bolting out to a 33-14 first-quarter lead and never getting caught.
That didn’t happen in the rematch. True, B’ville trailed early, but it stayed within sight and dictated the game’s tempo, preventing the Maroons from speeding up.
As they went to halfitme, it was tied, 24-24, and the Bees had all sorts of confidence it didn’t have in the first meeting, which would show once the teams came back for the third quarter.
In that pivotal frame, B’ville outscored Auburn 20-8, hitting on all sorts of baskets and shutting down anything the Maroons tried to respond.
The Bees would not get caught, as Kevin Roy led the way, earning 20 points to lead both sides. Chris Whelan gained 11 points, while Casey Murphy earned nine points. Nick Alenciewicz got six of his eight points at the free-throw line. Kenny Byrd led Auburn with 11 points.
As this went on, the B’ville girls team went to Auburn and won, 53-35, to improve to 5-4 on the season.
Throughout the first two periods, the Bees asserted itself, stretching out its lead to 31-15, and it would nurse that margin throughout the second half.
In particular, Julia Engels had a big night, earning 16 points as Auburn paid for giving too much attention to Claire and Maggie Monnat. Claire still had 11 points and Maggie contributed 10 points. Auburn’s Emily Felter matched Engels with 16 points, but had far less help.
Both of the B’ville teams will have games against Corcoran and Rome Free Academy next week.
