Nearly 11 months after its last visit to SRC Arena ended in a painful Section III Class AA semifinal defeat, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys basketball team had a far happier time of it when it returned Sunday night for the Pathfinder Bank Zebra Classic – a feeling that Christian Brothers Academy could not equal, despite the nostalgic feel of its latest “Holy War” with Bishop Ludden.
The Hornets, improving to 8-3 on the season, avenged a season-opening defeat to West Genesee, rolling to a 73-51 victory as Jake Wittig and a healthy David Stegemann led the charge.
But when it was CBA’s turn against Ludden, the Brothers fell victim to a pair of mid-game slumps that proved costly as the Brothers fell to the Gaelic Knights 59-46.
F-M’s 73-57 defeat on its home floor to West Genesee on Dec. 9 proved a distant memory. Since then, the Hornets had gone 7-2, and had perfect timing going into this game.
While F-M had just one game in the previous week (a 65-38 win over East Syracuse-Minoa on Thursday), the Wildcats had played Friday and Saturday in Jamesville-DeWitt’s Martin Luther King Tournament, and now were facing a third tough opponent in less than 48 hours.
Knowing all this, F-M pushed the tempo from the outset. Wittig, in particular, used his many skills to burn WG’s defenders earning 11 first-quarter points, nearly matching WG by himself as the Hornets grabbed a 22-13 lead.
Try as it could, the Wildcats were unable to keep up, F-M’s margin growing to 44-27 by halftime. It was sparked by 6-foot-4 junior forward David Stegemann, who returned after missing a month due to mononucleosis.
Stegemann did not start, but he produced seven points in that second quarter and 11 points overall. He also anchored a defense that did an effective job, containing WG’s top players, as Troy Temara was held to seven points and Nick Cunningham to six points.
F-M wore the Wildcats down as Wittig gained 28 points, adding eight assists and seven steals. Nick Quilty-Koval had 10 points, while Jawaan Crouch had seven points and Jimmy Barns got six points. Only one WG player, Rob Pocyntyluk (10 points), scored in double figures.
Once F-M was done, it was CBA against Ludden, a rivalry that took on extra meaning this time around, for many reasons.
Instead of their usual uniforms, Ludden and CBA donned jerseys from Syracuse’s fondly-remembered Parochial League, with the Gaelic Knights in St. Patrick’s green and gold, and the Brothers in Sacred Heart maroon and white. Alums from both schools even sang their respective alma maters in between quarters.
Also, for the first time in a while, both teams entered the game in top form, with CBA at 9-1, holding the no. 15 spot in the state Class A rankings, and Ludden at 8-2.
The weeks of hype that led to this game, plus the large crowd on hand, led to a nervous start on both ends. Ludden went nearly five minutes before getting its first field goal, but with the Brothers struggling just as much, it went out in front late in the first quarter.
Paul Aversa’s half-court shot at the first-quarter buzzer helped CBA tie it, 9-9. But after the Brothers went back out in front during the second period, Ludden countered with a 9-0 run and, at halftime, led 24-21.
That spurt offered a hint at the decisive spurt ahead. Challenging every shot CBA took and dominating on the boards, the Gaelic Knights went on an 18-2 run that spilled into the fourth quarter and included Ludden holding the Brothers without a point in the last 4:30 of the third period.
That poise was needed during a foul-filled fourth quarter where CBA kept threatening to make it more stressful, but never got closer than a seven-point margin.
On CBA’s side, only Monte Stroman, who had 17 points, scored in double figures, and no one else had more than Jack Carey’s total of seven points. Ludden’s Jack Rauch and Will Engelhardt each had 14 points, while freshman Mika Adams-Woods had 13 points and Zach Walser got 10 points.
