Despite the fact that the Christian Brothers Academy and Jamesville-DeWitt boys basketball teams left Henninger High School Friday night with defeats in the Peppino’s Invitational, both of them had a reason to feel good about their respective performances. Against the host team from Henninger, the Brothers led for long periods of the night and stayed close right to the end of a 78-72 decision, taking from it the confidence that it could have its best team in years – and it would return one night later to rally past West Genesee 65-62. As for the Red Rams, its reunion with one-time league rival Westhill was also close for a while, and the 81-60 defeat to the defending state Class B champion Warriors was less an indictment of J-D’s effort than an endorsement of Westhill’s wondrous senior duo of Jordan Roland and Tyler Reynolds. For CBA, who has enjoyed many memorable battles with Henninger through the years, this ranked close to the top, the Brothers showing plenty of grit and determination against a Black Knights squad loaded with talent and experience. At first, the Brothers attemped to slow down the game’s tempo, but when that didn’t work in the face of Henninger’s full-court pressure, CBA started running, and when Monte Stroman pulled off a baseline dunk at the end of the first quarter, it gave his team a 19-18 lead. Tthe Brothers kept trading baskets until taking off on a 12-0 run late in the second quarter, keyed by baskets from Emmett Dunn and Matt Burns. Up 40-34 at the half, CBA maintained its high level of play in the third period, too, not letting up until it had a 59-49 lead. At that point, with several Henninger players still getting into basketball shape after a long football season, things looked quite encouraging. But the Black Knights’ constant pressure took its toll. Early in the fourth quarter, CBA turned it over and went without a field goal for more than four minutes as Henninger went on a 13-0 run. Though the Brothers briefly regained a 65-64 lead, Destin Blunt’s three-point play with 2:54 left gave the Black Knights the lead for good. Then Romero Collier, who led Henninger with 24 points, hit three free throws in the final minute and assisted on another basket from Blunt to fend off CBA’s last charge. In defeat, Stroman led CBA with 16 points. Sixth man Charles Pride added 15 points, with Dunn and Burns adding 11 points apiece. Stroman and Shaitique Blatched, with 22 points and a pivotal charge in the waning second to thwart the Brothers’ last comeback attempt, paced Henninger. Steeled by this, the Brothers returned 24 hours later and didn’t panic when West Genesee, with fresher legs, led most of the way. Instead, trailing 33-25 at halftime, it chipped away at that deficit in the third quarter, and Stroman helped CBA surge in front in the final minutes. All told, Stroman produced 27 points, with help from Dunn (12 points) and Pride (10 points). Four WG players scored in double figures, with Nick Cunningham’s 18 points setting the pace in front of Troy Temara, Rob Pocyntyluk (13 points each) and Sam Brown (10 points). All of this followed J-D’s loss to Westhill. Despite beating Utica-Notre Dame at SRC Arena on Nov. 29, the Red Rams knew that the Warriors, who brought back four starters from last year’s team that went 27-0 en route to the state and Federation Class B titles, would prove difficult to subdue. The Rams’ defense held Jordan Roland without a field goal in the first quarter. As late as the second period, it was tied, 20-20, but Roland erupted for 14 points in that period and helped the Warriors grab a 44-36 edge by halftime Try as it could, J-D could not contain either Roland or his senior teammate, Reynolds, who mixed in everything from 3-pointers to a pair of dunks on his way to a game-high 29 points. What’s more, Westhill’s defense wore the Rams down, holding them to just two field goals in the fourth quarter. Dom DeRegis still put up 19 points, with Williams contributing 16 points and Adrian Autry adding 10 points and Evan Dourdas seven points. But James Boeheim, who netted 21 points against Utica-Notre Dame, managed just one field goal on this night.