For the second time in as many months, the Westhill boys basketball team took the measure of a Syracuse Academy of Science that, with a 7-2 start, had managed to join the Warriors in the state Class B rankings.
But as good as the Atoms have proven this winter, it still could not keep up with Westhill, who went to SAS last Tuesday night and prevailed by a 70-40 margin.
These two sides had first met Dec. 17, and the Warriors had won 85-47. The rematch at SAS did not involve numbers as large, and in fact the Warriors nearly squandered its early 18-9 edge, only taking a 27-22 lead to the break.
The Atoms’ hopes for an upset didn’t last long, though as, led by Tyler Reynolds, Westhill outscored SAS 27-7 in the third quarter to get away, using its man-to-man defense to hold the Atom’s top player, Jayson Brower, to 16 points.
Reynolds kept drawing contact and converted at the line, earning 10 of his game-high 24 points from free throws. Jeff Lobello dished out nine assists to go with his 14 points and three rebounds, while Jordan Roland, kept relatively quiet on the offensive side, still had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds. Dan O’Connell did well, too, with eight points and six rebounds.
Before traveling to Utica for the Juggler Classic on the weekend, the Warriors tuned up Thursday night by posting a season-high point total and constantly converting from beyond the arc in a 90-51 romp over Jordan-Elbridge.
All told, Westhill hit on 13 3-pointers, including three from Jordan Roland on his way to 28 points, but Ryan Roland topped him with four 3-pointers that accounted for most of his 14 points.
Mike Burton, quiet for most of the season, made a trio of 3-pointers, too, finishing with 11 points overall as Bailey (eight points), Lobello (seven points) and O’Connell (six points) were right behind. J-E got 11 points from Zach Wagner and seven points from Ryan Matousek.
Marcellus took its shot at long-time Class A power Jamesville-DeWitt last Tuesday night, and started and finished well – but it was the middle part that proved the difficult part for the Mustangs in a 71-50 defeat to the Red Rams.
Through a closely played opening period, Marcellus played even with J-D and had a 13-13 tie. But J-D took over in the second quarter, proceeding to outscore the Mustangs 48-20 as Isaiah Williams, with 28 points, and Dom DeRegis, with 14 points, led the way.
The Mustangs did put three players in double figures. Mike Melnyczuk had 15 points, with Gavin Hoey earning six of his 12 points at the free-throw line and Mike Dillon adding 11 points.
On Friday night, Marcellus visited surprising Homer and lost a close 56-53 decision to the Trojans, falling behind 38-22 by halftime and nearly making it all the way back during the last two periods.
Dillon managed 18 points, with Melnyczuk adding 17 points, but other than that only Drew Mosher, with six points, provided any sort of consistent production. By contrast, five Homer players had six or more points, with Jake Hayes (16 points) leading the way.
Solvay, keeping itself above the .500 mark, hosted Jordan-Elbridge last Tuesday night, and like with Marcellus and J-D, the second and third quarters provided the turning point as the Bearcats beat the Eagles 73-53.
J-E actually led, 14-12, going into the second period, but then its defense got overwhelmed by a Solvay barrage that included a 53-28 push that lingered all the way to the fourth quarter.
Jon Scutt, hitting four 3-pointers, led the Bearcats with 22 points. Mike Yaizzo had 16 points, with Sammy Kippen and Jeff Honsinger each getting 14 points. The Eagles had 13 different players score at least one point, but none had more than the 12 points put up by Ryan Cooper as Justin Quinn added nine points.
