In years past, the Westhill boys basketball team had not found much peace or quiet in its trips to Cazenovia, twice having to rely on last-second shots from Jordan Roland to pull it out.
So when the state Class B no. 1-ranked Warriors returned to Buckley Gym Friday night, it wanted things settled long before the final buzzer – and it was, Westhill handling the Lakers 70-36.
Cazenovia was far from an easy mark. At 9-2, it had sneaked into the state Class B rankings at the no. 24 spot, and with a balanced attack and tough defense, plus the energy from a large home crowd in a “White Out” promotion, the Lakers had the ability to push Westhill again.
For most of the first quarter, Cazenovia’s plans panned out, as Westhill settled for jump shots and rarely got second chances.
Then, with less than a minute left in the first quarter and the Warriors only up 13-10, Jordan Roland seized the moment, combining with Jeff Lobello on an alley-oop dunk and then hitting a tough leaner in the waning seconds of the period.
That settled the Warriors down, and Roland would tack on 11 points (including another dunk) during the second quarter, but Cazenovia, getting good production from Keaton Ackermann (he had seven of his 13 points in that period), remained within sight, only trailing 33-23 at the break.
Not panicking, Westhill tightened its man-to-man pressure, and it gradually wore the Lakers down while getting better looks on the offensive end. An 8-0 run, done in a 90-second span of the third quarter, helped the Warriors stretch its margin to 44-26, and from there the game got away.
Roland finished with 22 points and nine rebounds. Tyler Reynolds contributed 17 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and three assists, and those 17 left him within 11 points of reaching 1,000 for his career, something he could reach in Westhill’s next game Thursday against Institute of Technology Central.
Helping out, Brian Daily had nine rebounds as he, along with Lobello and Dan O’Connell, had six points apiece, Only Ackermann reached double figures for the Lakers.
Two nights earlier, Westhill tuned up by trashing Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 95-31, a game that belonged to Steven Bailey, who was the main reason the Warriors rushed to a 44-11 halftime lead and made an otherwise one-sided game far more interesting to watch.
Bailey kept getting open from beyond the arc – and kept hitting, eight 3-pointers in all, leading to 26 points on the night.
All 11 Westhill players that saw action got at least one field goal as Bailey, along with Daily (12 points) and Chase Gedney (nine points), were glad to seize the spotlight from Reynolds, who had 10 points, and Roland, who added 14 points.
Aside from facing ITC, Westhill (14-1) will also have a marquee game next Saturday against Class AA power Henninger at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall.
