A season-opening five-game skid finally halted for the Canastota boys basketball team as it rolled Tuesday night to a 60-36 victory over Morrisville-Eaton.
Under first-year head coach Josh Chenel, the Raiders had spent all season trying outside shots that didn’t fall. They finally did against the Warriors, and M-E never got close.
It was 22-2 after one period, and Canastota kept growing the margin until it was a staggering 40-5 at halftime. M-E finally started making some shots in the second half (Will Thomas had a game-high 21 points), but it was far too late.
In all, 11 different Raiders scored, with Ron Vaccaro setting the pace as he got 14 points. Brad Olden had 12 points, while Garet Clemens earned eight points and Kevin Hoyt had six points.
Hamilton, coming off an 0-2 mark in the Madison Tournament on Dec. 29-30, did not see things improve in Monday’s game against Westmoreland as it lost to the Bulldogs 60-46.
These two sides were tied, 22-22, at halftime, and the Emerald Knights remained in it until the fourth quarter, when Westmoreland’s Jason Colburn really took over.
Of the 20 points the Bulldogs notched in the final period, 16 were from Colburn as he finished with 33 points overall, more than half his team’s output.
By contrast, Hamilton’s top scorer, Cameron Fisher, had 18 points, and none of his teammates hit double figures, though John Andrzejek had eight points. Phil Douchinsky and Lucas Rhyde got six points apiece.
Hamilton then turned around on Thursday night and, taking its own shot at Canastota, did just enough to earn a 49-47 win over the Raiders to improve its mark to 2-6.
All game long, it proved close. The Emerald Knights erased an early 11-8 deficit and tied it, 21-21, going into the break before taking the lead in the third quarter.
Somehow, Hamilton held on late, as Fisher led the way with 21 points, most of it from four 3-pointers. Rhyde, with 11 points, also hit double figures as Tom Hilgenberg contributed six points. For Canastota, Olden led with 13 points as Merrell and Vaccaro each had eight points and Kyle Sandford contributed seven points.
