Amid fierce competition in the OHSL Liberty division, the Jordan-Elbridge boys basketball team began its 2012-13 season.
And the Eagles, beaten up for a long time both inside and outside league ranks (it went 4-14 a season ago), may finally be turning a corner toward success, as it pulled away from Marcellus for a 58-43 victory in Friday night’s home opener.
J-E outscored the Mustangs in every quarter. As the pace quickened, so did the Eagles, who stretched out its lead to 29-22 by halftime and never let Marcellus put together a sustained run.
A lot of that was due to Colyn Hanley, who nearly had a triple-double as he backed up his 14 points with a career-best 17 rebounds and nine blocks, plus four steals.
Zach Wagner led with 18 points, while Kyle Matousek picked up 12 points and Jared Bard added nine points. Marcellus, who fell to 0-2, saw Duncan Merritt earn 12 points as Mike Hastings and Ben Powers got 11 points apiece.
Before this, J-E nearly pulled off a miraculous victory at Chittenango in last Tuesday night’s opener, erasing a big fourth-quarter deficit before taking a 51-46 overtime loss to the Bears.
For three periods, nothing worked for the Eagles, as it trailed 37-23. But in those last eight minutes of regulation, the Eagles got hot just as the Bears went cold, as 3-pointers from Bard (who finished with 15 points) and Wagner (who got 14 points overall) helped forge a 41-41 tie.
But the magic ran out in OT as Chittenango outscored J-E 10-5, led by Devin Phelps, who got 20 points, and Sean Cliff, who added 14 points. Phelps and Cliff both hit on three 3-pointers.s
On that same night, Marcellus dropped its opener to Cazenovia 48-39. Fast out of the gate, the Lakers had a 19-9 lead through one quarter. After cooling off the rest of the half, the Lakers had a similar hot streak in the third quarter, expanding its lead to 41-24, out of the Mustangs’ reach.
For Marcellus, only Duncan Merritt (15 points) scored in double figures. Wyatt Stehle had eight points, while Mike Dillon got seven points and Powers got six points. Ryman Seeley led Cazenovia, earning most of his 14 points from four successful 3-pointers.
Solvay, who like J-E only had four regular-season wins in 2011-12, began by visiting league favorite Bishop Grimes, and playing well in the middle stages, though it lost to the Cobras 63-45.
An early Grimes blitz left Solvay behind 17-6 going to the second quarter. Over the next two periods, though, it managed to outscore the Cobras 29-26 and getting all nine of its players in the rotation to record at least one field goal.
Despite that, the Cobras pulled away late, led by Casey Evans, whose 23 points included four 3-pointers, and Jon Carnegie, who had 16 points and eight rebounds. On Solvay’s side, Nick Filippi led the way, but had just 12 points, with Cody Pucello adding eight points and Tyler Cardinell getting six points.
The Bearcats returned home to face Phoenix on Thursday night, and appeared ready to break into the win column – but a late surge by the Firebirds led to a 59-54 defeat.
Following a closely played first half, Solvay, trailing 26-23, surged to the lead in the third quarter, led there by Filippi, who would finish with 17 points.
That 43-40 edge did not hold, though, as Phoenix reclaimed the lead in the final period behind a deep, well-balanced attack where nine different players got field goals and none had more than the 10 points put up by Richard Howington and Chris Vaverchak. Behind Filippi, the Bearcats saw Sal Tartaro get nine points, with Cardinell and John Savo adding eight points apiece.
