A fast finish to the regular season, and a run to the Section III Class AA quarterfinals, in 2013-14 was the brightest effort by the Baldwinsville boys basketball team in a long while. All of the work put in by head coach Tim Solomon and his staff was starting to pay off, and with a strong cast of returning players this winter, the expectations for the Bees are not just to get to the post-season, but to perhaps make a deeper run toward a championship. Anticipating this, a packed house at the Baker High School Gym gathered for Friday night’s season opener against Bishop Ludden – but most of them, or at least the ones in red and white, left disappointed after B’ville lost to the Gaelic Knights 68-53. Ludden, of course, is a traditional powerhouse, having won sectional titles each of the last three years and claiming the state Class B championship in 2012 before returning to the state final four in the Class A ranks a year later. Now, the Gaelic Knights have moved up to Class AA, and while senior cornerstones Dan Kaigler and Ben Hackett are gone, two other veterans, Zach Walser and Jack Rauch, are back, and they would help Ludden get a big early-season win. B’ville managed just six points in a nervous first quarter. By the time its attack got rolling, the Gaelic Knights were in gear, too, and matched all of the Bees’ runs. Then, with the game still tight going into the third quarter, Ludden proceeded to go on a 16-0 run, a spurt from which B’ville could not recover. Tim Marshall, in defeat, still managed 20 points and eight rebounds. Cameron Skipworth earned 13 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while John Brecht had eight points and Ben DiOrio added six points and four steals. Ludden countered by putting four players in double figures. Walser, with 18 points, led the way, while Mika Adams-Woods had 14 points, Rauch 12 points and Sh’ikem Lee 11 points. B’ville gets a full week to work on the problems that the Ludden game exposed before making a trip to perennial power Henninger next Friday night.