When the East Syracuse-Minoa boys basketball team finally got a chance to play its season opener Friday night against Fowler, it could only manage 18 points in the entire first half and had to take a 51-44 defeat to the Falcons.
Not even 24 hours later, at Fayetteville-Manlius, the Hornets had 18 points in the game’s first four minutes and 44 points by halftime, an outburst that directly led to the visitors stunning the Hornets 83-65 and leaving F-M to ponder an 0-2 start, both defeats painful in their own ways.
Every shot that didn’t seem to fall at home did so for ESM right in front of the loud, hostile crowd in the “Hornets’ Nest” Saturday night. In all, the Spartans drained 10 3-point field goals and saw Sharif Nero (who had 22 points) and Josh Stuper (who finished with 17 points) take turns taking F-M’s defenses apart.
Having twice seen possible openers snowed out (Dec. 7 against CBA, then Wednesday against F-M), not to mention lost practice time, had left head coach Mark Carr’s charges cold by the time it took the court against Fowler.
ESM, who went 11-9 a season ago, managed just five first-quarter points against the Falcons and spent the rest of the night playing catch-up. Only Joe Greco, who finished with 20 points, found any kind of rhythm as no other Spartan scored in double figures, Stuper and Matt Placito getting seven points apiece and Nero adding six points.
As this was going on, F-M, having to replace every starter (including stars like Brian Zapisek, Jack Giles and Mike O’Neil) from last year’s 14-5 squad that lost in the Class AA quarterfinals to Henninger, opened with a trip to Auburn – and no small amount of controversy at the end of a 44-43 loss to the Maroons.
F-M had squandered an 11-point lead, but as regulation time wound down and it trailed, 43-42, freshman John Schurman was fouled with six seconds left. Schurman, who already had 14 points and 10 rebounds in an impressive varsity debut, made one free throw to tie it, 43-43, but missed the second and a chance to move in front.
Auburn’s Anthony Pollard got the rebound and passed it to Mike Granato, who had made five 3-pointers on the night on his way to 20 points. With 1.2 seconds left, Granato heaved a long shot toward the net – and the Hornets’ Joe Reilley got called for a foul, the official claiming that Reilley bumped Granato.
F-M coach Tom Blackford fumed about the call, but it stood. And Granato made the first free throw, which proved the game-winner. Aside from Schurman, Parker Harris (eight points) and Kevin Putnam (six points) led F-M’s inconsistent attack as, after a 14-6 start, it never got back in rhythm again.
Less than 24 hours later, the Hornets were back home, burning to get into the win column. However, ESM had that same mentality and, from the moment the game tipped off, it proved who was better in the neighborhood – at least for the time being.
Nero fueled the first surge. The 6-4 senior hit on everything from 3-point shots to a fast-break dunk as the Spartans bolted out to a 21-9 lead in the first six minutes of action. Of Nero’s eventual total of 22 points, 13 of them came in the first quarter.
F-M tried to fight back, pulling within six, 36-30, late in the second quarter. This time, though, it was Stuper getting open for ESM – and converting, over and over. He had 13 points in that second period and 17 points overall as the fast-paced Spartans took a 44-35 lead to halftime.
It was still a nine-point margin, 58-49, late in the third quarter when ESM finally put things away. Greco’s 3-pointer ignited a 13-2 run that stretched deep into the final period, as Greco finished with 13 points. In defeat, Schurman continued to impress for the Hornets, putting in 20 points as Reilley added 10 points and Mike Palermo got eight points.
ESM takes its shot at three-time defending state Class A champion Jamesville-DeWitt Tuesday night, just as F-M sets out on another set of back-to-back games, this time against Rome Free Academy and at Central Square.
