Each of the Fayetteville-Manlius basketball teams earned wins during the middle portion of January, with the boys showing nice recovery skills and the girls once again disposing of a familiar opponent.
In the girls Hornets’ case, it played Oswego for the third time this season and, for the third time, prevailed over the Buccaneers, this time by a score of 40-28.
They had met twice in December tournaments — first at Jamesville-DeWitt, then at Oswego — with the Hornets winning on both occasions, this on top of last season’s Class AA quarterfinal victory over the Bucs.
In this version, F-M’s defense ruled the night. Oswego kept running into Hornet resistance wherever it turned, only getting a handful of field goals in the first three periods.
Still, F-M had its own troubles scoring, only leading 24-17 going into the fourth quarter. One run by the Bucs could change things — but the Hornets didn’t let it happen as Emily Trapani and Ali Pliszka led the way.
Combined, Trapani, with 17 points, and Pliszka, with 15 points (including a pair of 3-pointers), outscored Oswego by themselves. Maureen Gilroy was the only other Hornet to get a field goal. Michelle Canale led the Bucs with just seven points.
Meanwhile, the F-M boys team used its trip to Oswego as an outlet for full-blown anger, and that proved quite effective in an 84-35 blitz over the Bucs.
These Hornets had to stew for four days after watching a 12-point lead vanish against CNS in a 60-59 home loss on Jan. 8.
Once the stewing was done, F-M went to work on Oswego, using a 21-6 second-quarter run to get away and continuing the fun with 28 points in the third quarter alone.
Through it all, Jack Giles picked up 20 points, as he and Brian Zapisek (19 points) both connected on four 3-pointers. Mike O’Neil had nine points as Matt DeFrancisco came off the bench to score seven points and Andrew Murphy added six points.
In a non-league game Saturday, F-M met Vernon Verona Sherrill, normally a Tri-Valley League power but having its share of struggles this winter.
The Hornets added to those struggles, beating the Red Devils 69-32. F-M overcame an early 9-8 deficit by dominating VVS in the next two periods, outscoring them 45-12. In all, 13 different F-M players got on the scoreboard. Giles led the way, with 19 points, while Zapisek got 13 points.
That win improved F-M’s mark to 8-3, as it stayed home Tuesday to face Nottingham before a Friday visit to Central Square, teams the girls Hornets will also face.
