Given all the production that left with the likes of John Schurman and Louis Avellino, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys basketball team could not expect that it had all the components necessary to keep up with the top Class AA contenders – not yet, anyway.
At the moment, none of those contenders is as strong as Henninger, who arrived at the “Hornets Nest” last Friday and proved immune to its challenges, rising up to beat F-M 59-43.
Already, Henninger had a 4-0 mark, and while F-M was feeling good following CNY Counties League wins over Cicero-North Syracuse and Baldwinsville, the Black Knights offered up many reasons why it might be the AA team to beat.
During a low-scoring first half, the Hornets’ trademark 1-3-1 pressure caused some problems. It also helped whittle down an early deficit, F-M inching within two, 24-22, going to halftime.
Yet Henninger’s pressure never let up, and while that happened, the Hornets’ mistakes turned into baskets on the other end, with the Black Knights outscoring F-M 35-21 in the course of the second half.
Jake Wittig, F-M’s top scorer, had just 12 points and five assists, finding it difficult to solve long-time friend and rival Romero Collier, who produced 16 points, nine assists and four rebounds.
David Stegemann managed nine points, while Nick Quilty-Koval never got many open looks against Henninger’s tough guards and had just six points.
The Black Knights put four players in double figures. Besides Collier, Shaitique Blatche managed a double-double of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while Keisean Scott had 12 points and Destin Blunt produced 10 points.
Less than 24 hours later, F-M was home again, this time facing Newark (Section V), and recovered quickly, beating the Reds 58-39 to move to 3-2 on the season.
The 1-3-1 didn’t work immediately, as hot-shooting Newark took a 17-12 first-quarter lead. But the Hornets limited the Reds to 13 total points in the next two periods, all the while maintaining its production and gaining a 45-30 lead.
Wittig managed 16 points and nine assists, with Stegemann working inside to get 10 points and seven rebounds. Jimmy Barnes came off the bench to score eight points, adding three rebounds and two steals as 11 different Hornets had at least one point by game’s end.
After a nine-day layoff, F-M is back in action next Monday against another Section V foe, Greece Arcadia, and won’t resume its local schedule until a Jan. 6 visit to Auburn.
