Were it not for East Syracuse-Minoa’s Joe Greco, the Chittenango boys basketball team might have some breathing space above the .500 mark. Instead, the Bears were stuck at 4-4 in the wake of last Saturday’s 72-61 defeat to the Spartans, a game where Greco’s 30 points made a profound difference. The Bears’ trek through the week commenced last Tuesday, at Fulton, with plenty of offense to spare as it beat the Red Raiders 64-46. Chittenango jumped out to a 15-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. Fulton hung around for a while, but when the Bears outscored them 21-12 in the third period, the visitors had a safe cushion. Brendan Galek hit on a trio of 3-pointers of his way to a game-high 21 points. Mike Scott chimed in with 13 points as Greg Jasek added eight points and Devin Christopher got six points. Zach Loura led Fulton with 18 points. Then the Bears went to ESM, on a day where the school was honoring its Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, revealing their plaques in a halftime ceremony. Before that, though, Greco had started to carve up Chittenango, scoring 14 points in the first quarter alone as the Bears fell behind 26-11. Initially, Chittenango shook this right off and went on a 16-0 run at the start of the second quarter to move out in front. Then it traded baskets until, with the game tied 35-35, ESM’s Steve Mesmer hit a basket right before halftime, pushing the Spartans ahead for good. Again, the Bears fell behind by double digits thanks to Greco’s hot shooting, as he had 28 points in the middle of the third quarter. Again, Chittenango pushed back, closing within 64-60 with less than three minutes to play before ESM closed on an 8-1 run. Galek led the Bears with 22 points, while Scott worked inside for 16 points and Jasek, who had replaced an injured Cavanaugh Chiares in the starting lineup, had eight points. Greco got support from ESM teammate Josh Stuper, who had 18 points of his own. Chittenango’s girls would split the week, starting last Tuesday at home as it overcame a terrible start to beat Fulton 41-35. The Bears looked to be in trouble as it fell behind 14-2 in the first quarter. Not until the third period did Chittenango even reach double digits on the scoreboard, but it still pulled within 28-23. In the final period, all the shots started to fall. Kaitlin Antelmi, Sierra Shafer and Alanna Haynes each hit important baskets and finished with 10 points apiece as the Bears roared out in front. A similar start had to be avoided if Chittenango wanted any chance of winning at Christian Brothers Academy on Friday, and it did play better early – but the Brothers still prevailed 56-39.
Here, it turned in the second quarter, when CBA held the Bears to three points and broke away from what was a close 15-14 game. Despite Antelmi’s 12 points and help from Haynes (nine points) and Emily Baker (seven points), Chittenango could not catch up as Ellen Voorheis (20 points) and Marisa Romeo (17 points) led CBA’s push. Following games with Fowler and Jamesville-DeWitt this week, Chittenango will play a girls/boys doubleheader at Fayetteville-Manlius on Saturday afternoon.