Both of Christian Brothers Academy’s basketball teams were winless. Both saw opportunities to get rid of that designation against East Syracuse-Minoa, and both would do so.
Defeats to Cicero-North Syracuse and Fairport had left the Brothers 0-2 going into its game at ESM Tuesday night, and with Monte Stroman offering immediate assistance in his regular-season debut, CBA would claim a 58-46 decision over the Spartans.
Stroman had missed both of the Brothers’ opening games with an ankle injury. His return allowed the offense to diversify a bit more, and not rely so much on Charlie Russo’s outside shooting.
Not only was the attack a little more diverse, the defense remained a suffocating presence. ESM only managed nine points in each of the first two periods, unable to establish any rhythm with so many CBA players tailing them toward the basket.
With a 30-18 halftime lead, CBA saw its attack hurt a bit in the second half, but that didn’t prove too costly, since the defense remained a strong point until the Spartans were too far behind to really put a dent into the Brothers’ chances.
Aided by a pair of 3-pointers, Stroman finished with 11 points, nearly matching his team’s winning margin. Russo, with 22 points (including four 3-pointers), remained the focal point, while Tim Pierret managed nine points and Dylan Lambert added six points.
ESM had Sean Richardson produce 18 points, while Jah-Meer McDuffie matched Stroman’s total of 11 points. No one else had more than Eyan Underwood’s total of six points.
In the girls version at CBA’s Buddy Wleklinski Court on that same night, the Brothers had a big first half, which proved enough to withstand ESM’s late surge and beat the Spartans 66-51.
Each side moved the ball up and down the court in the first two periods. But CBA, coming off a season-opening 56-43 loss to Jamesville-DeWitt, was better equipped to deal with such a tempo, and it steadily built a solid lead on ESM.
By halftime, the Brothers were up 39-26, but it nearly squandered that margin in the third quarter, going cold as the Spartans fed it inside to Sydni Eure and Danielle Yates for a series of easy baskets.
Eure would finish with 22 points and Yates would add 14 points, but still it wasn’t enough. CBA, the margin cut to 48-42 at the start of the fourth quarter, gradually regained control and, with free throws, secured its first win of the season.
Natalie Nardella notched a double-double that included 19 points and 13 rebounds. Julie Cuomo and Paige Nicholson each got 12 points, with Erinn Grover adding further depth as she got nine points. Rosalee Winderl had seven points and Nafsya Williams got six points.
Both of CBA’s sides would play again on Friday, against Fowler – and both would win big, the girls rolling past the Falcons 69-30 and the boys also winning by a big margin, this one 77-47.
At Fowler, the CBA girls already had a 19-10 lead when, in the second quarter, it all but put the game away, the Brothers outscoring the Falcons 25-6 and then holding them to four points in the third quarter.
Each of the 10 CBA players that saw action scored at least one field goal. Cuomo’s 16 points included a trio of 3-pointers. Winderl managed 11 points, while Nardella had nine points. Josie Hakizimana stepped up for eight points as Paige Nicholson contributed six points.
Playing in its home opener, the boys Brothers found itself in a tougher situation after the first quarter, trailing 14-13. But like its female counterparts, CBA used the second quarter to take charge, blitzing Fowler in a 23-5 spurt, and then staying patient until a 23-10 closing stretch.
And just like the girls, every CBA boys player got at least one point by game’s end. Russo led with 17 points, with Mike Trasolini stepping up for 12 points and Pierret improving to 11 points. Stroman and Emmett Dunn each had eight points as Lambert contributed seven points.
