As it turned out, the Westhill boys basketball team would not get a full defense of its title earned a year ago in the Bottar-Leone Holiday Classic at Christian Brothers Academy.
The inability of Monsignor McClancy, from New York City, to travel out of its home base due to last weekend’s blizzard left just three teams – Westhill, CBA and St. Joseph’s (Buffalo) – in the field, so each of the local sides would play once.
Westhill went first against St. Joseph’s Wednesday night – and nearly made another remarkable comeback on the CBA floor before falling to the Marauders 51-46.
Following an 18-18 first quarter, Westhill’s offense all but disappeared in the next two periods, allowing St. Joe’s to stretch out to a 44-26 lead with only the fourth quarter to play.
A year ago, in this same tournament on this same court and in a similar circumstance against St. Peter’s (Staten Island), Westhill had rallied from 18 down to win 44-42 on a Dan Ross shot with 1.8 seconds left.
Perhaps head coach Kevin King reminded his Warriors of that rally – for it nearly happened again. Westhill increased its defensive pressure, forced turnovers and chopped away at the margin, but just ran out of time.
What’s more, no single player really took charge, as Justin Biles led Westhill with just 10 points. Nathan Nigolian had nine points, with Geno Sgroi, Kevin McAvoy and Vitty Freeman each getting six points.
As this went on, Marcellus split its two games at the Fulton Tournament, beating the host Red Raiders 74-42, but losing to East Rochester 56-44 in overtime.
The Mustangs steadily put the Red Raiders away, leading 40-24 by halftime and using a 20-9 third quarter to seal it. Mike Fox, with 13 points, led a balanced attack where Steve Raven, Kyle Hastings and Geoff Crysler each got 10 points. Chaz Hayes and Carey Mielnicki had eight points apiece.
Against East Rochester, Marcellus fell behind when it got just six points in the third quarter, but outscored ER 18-11 in the final period to tie it, 41-41, and force OT. However, it ran out of steam in the four-minute extra period, managing just three points. Hayes, with 15 points, was the only Mustang to score in double figures.
Jordan-Elbridge took its turn in the Hannibal Tournament, starting Tuesday with a first-round game against the host Warriors that ended in a 63-54 defeat.
The Eagles only trailed by two, 26-24, going into halftime, but watched as Hannibal steadily pulled away behind Alec Nelson, Darryl Rupert (14 points each), Zach Weiling (13 points) and Austin Bettinger (10 points).
For its part, J-E featured Leland Holmes, who led both sides with 18 points, while Brennen Barrigar had 11 points. Tyler Richardson had nine points and Scott Sullivan added eight points.
Finally, the Eagles’ skid ended in Wednesday’s consolation game, where it came from behind to beat Cato-Meridian 61-56.
A rough first half left J-E down, 42-30, but it didn’t stay there. The Eagles outscored the Blue Devils 19-6 in the third quarter to zoom out in front, then played solid defense in the final period, holding Cato to eight points.
Richardson, with 17 points, led the rally as he sank three 3-pointers. Sullivan and Tom Poppe each had 12 points, with Barrigar contributing eight points and Cody Lewis adding six points.
