It’s amazing what a couple of days of rest can do.
West Genesee’s boys basketball team went to Henninger last Wednesday night and pushed the Black Knights all the way to the final buzzer before taking a 63-61 defeat, and then went on to play another city foe on Friday and returned to the win column, beating Corcoran 65-55.
Henninger arrived at this game with a 10-1 record and a state Class AA no. 18 ranking. But it also had an enormous game at 10-2 Nottingham looming two days later, and the Wildcats may have figured the Black Knights were looking ahead.
And why wouldn’t Henninger think that way? WG, with a 5-6 mark, was playing its fourth game in six days, having gone to the court three times in a 48-hour span the previous weekend, beating Albany Academy, but losing to Jamesville-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius.
Yet those two days of rest, plus a confidence gained from playing Henninger close in seasons past, gave WG enough reason to think it could pull off a surprise – which it almost did.
Trailing 14-8 after one period, the Wildcats closed the gap to 28-25 by halftime, and then made things even more nervous for the Black Knights by gaining a 45-44 lead going to the final period.
It went back and forth the rest of the way, WG unable to hang on, but Henninger unable to get away. Only when the Black Knights, leading by two, made one more defensive stop on the Wildcats in the final seconds could it get away.
Troy Temara gave Henninger’s defense fits, putting up a game-high 26 points, while Nick Cunningham got 17 points. Tyler Shoults added six points as, for Henninger, Shaitique Blatche had 24 points, seven rebounds and four steals, with Keisean Scott adding 13 points and Romero Collier getting 10 assists, to go with eight points, four rebounds and four steals.
WG’s game with Corcoran on Friday was a fifth outing in eight days, and it didn’t start well, the Cougars leading 21-10 before the Wildcats outscored them 26-9 the rest of the first half.
Any time the Cougars tried to get closer, WG answered, especially in the final minutes as Corcoran whittled down a 13-point deficit to five before a Temara dunk (his third of the night, to go with three missed slams), along with Cunningham and Nick Graham making free throws, put it away.
All told, the Wildcats took 36 free throws, making 19 of them, with Cunningham making 10 of those foul shots on his way to 17 points overall. Temara finished with 21 points as Chris LaValle got 11 points, Shoults seven points and Rob Pocyntyluk six points.
Jordan-Elbridge got a shot at state Class B no. 24-ranked Cazenovia last Tuesday night, playing solid defense but unable to get much production on the other end in a 53-40 defeat to the Lakers.
During a quiet first half, the Eagles went into long scoring droughts, and by the time it started to get out of them, Cazenovia led, 28-14, at the break, and would maintain a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
Ryan Cooper got most of his 17 points in the second half, but no other J-E player topped Ryan Matouseck’s total of six points, and four of those points were free throws. Ryan Henderson, with 20 points, led Cazenovia’s efforts.
But the Eagles did rebound, winning at Hannibal 49-39 on Friday in a game that was tight until J-E outscored the Warriors 21-13 in the fourth quarter. Zach Wagner, with 14 points, led the charge, while Sam Robles contributed nine points.
On that same night, Marcellus and Solvay both lost, the Mustangs unable to keep Cortland from a ninth consecutive win as it prevailed 59-35, while at the same time the Bearcats fell, 72-52, to Institute of Technology Central.
A stifling Purple Tigers defense hurt the Mustangs, though it kept the game close until Cortland outscored them 24-12 in the third quarter. Mike Melnyczuk had 13 points, while Kyle Cangemi managed 10 points and Mike Dillon eight points. Sage Brown and Chris Luke led Cortland, getting 14 points apiece.
Solvay had more points at ITC, but the Eagles raced to a 40-25 halftime lead and didn’t get caught. Only Jon Scutt, with 14 points, hit double figures for the Bearcats, as Blake Bagozzi got nine points, Mike Yaizzo seven points and Tim Gary six points. For ITC, James Walker (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Iqual Dancil (15 points, 12 rebounds) led the way.
