Following a week where it lost on the road and nearly suffered a devastating defeat at home before making a miraculous recovery, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys basketball team now turns its attention to a punishing regular-season homestretch.
All of this began with last Tuesday night’s trip to defending Section III Class AA champion Utica Proctor. In a gym where few visiting teams ever win, the Hornets got burned on the defensive end in the first half, and never were able to recover in a 75-64 defeat to the Raiders, which ended a three-game win streak.
Right from the outset, each side pushed the tempo, but Proctor got the better of it, especially in the second quarter, when it outscored F-M 23-13 to push its lead to 43-29 at the half.
And even when the Hornets’ defense held Proctor to eight points in the third quarter, it could not take full advantage, only closing the gap to 51-41, and the Raiders held them off down the stretch, too, led by Tyvon Reed, who had 26 points, and Jalen Hawkins, who added 19 points.
Jake Wittig nearly managed a unique triple-double, augmenting his 24 points with 10 assists and eight steals, while Nick Quilty-Koval added 14 points, most of it from four 3-pointers. F-M had less success inside, where Cormac Bettinger, with eight points, had the most production. Jimmy Barns (seven points) and Jawaan Crouch (six points) were close behind.
Back home on Friday night, F-M was expected to handle Cicero-North Syracuse. But a subpar first half pushed the Hornets into desperation mode, and the result was an astonishing second-half turnaround that allowed F-M to beat the Northstars 70-60.
The Hornets had won at C-NS 49-41 on Dec. 12, pushing the Northstars (who lost star guard Connor Evans for the season with a torn ACL) further down as it started the season 2-11.
Yet in the rematch, F-M simply didn’t take C-NS seriously, and paid for it with its worst half of the season, the Northstars tearing through the Hornets’ defenses and not letting up until it went to the locker room enjoying a 34-15 edge.
Whatever was said by head coach Tom Blackford in the locker room, pleasant or otherwise, must have registered, because in the third quarter F-M outscored C-NS 21-12, making up half the deficit, and then strung together more baskets in the fourth quarter as it closed on a 34-14 tear.
So, after scoring 15 points in the first half, F-M netted 55 in the second half. Wittig produced 21 points, nine steals and eight assists, nearly recording his second triple-double of the season, while Quilty-Koval hit seven 3-pointers to account for most of his 23 points and led the comeback.
David Stegemann added 12 points and six rebounds, with Barns getting seven points. C-NS lost despite 16 points from Devin Turell and 13 points from Brendan Gacek.
F-M, with a 9-4 record, would now look to avenge two of its losses this season, hosting Auburn (who edged the Hornets 73-71 earlier this month) on Tuesday and then visiting Henninger Thursday, the same side that won at F-M 59-43 back on Dec. 19.
