A year of hard work, and a furious scramble through the latter stages of this season, has put the Baldwinsville boys basketball team in the exact same spot that it was in 12 months ago – part of the Section III Class AA quarterfinals, but knowing it will have to take down a long-time powerhouse to go any further.
The no. 8 seed Bees delighted most of a packed house at the Baker High School Gym in Friday night’s opening-round game of the sectional tournament, defeating no. 9 seed Liverpool 77-64 with an attack that achieved close to perfect balance.
All five of B’ville’s starters reached double figures, and it the way in which they reached those numbers that gave Bees fans reason to think that it could do even more in this particular post-season.
Liverpool had beaten the Bees 69-63 back on Jan. 6, but that came before the Warriors were slowed down by a series of injuries to three starters (Matt Hunter, Sumit Singh and Tyler Sullivan) that caused a late-season slump, and it also took place before B’ville’s big 6-1 surge that got it into the playoffs following a 2-9 start.
Hunter, Sullivan and Singh were all back for this sectional game, and Hunter hit three 3-pointers in a first quarter where B’ville did not get a field goal for more than four minutes before Ryan Kohutanich’s 3-pointer broke that spell.
And once that happened, the Bees got into a long-term groove, taking the lead for good with a 12-2 spurt late in the half. Tim Marshall, scoreless in the opening period, had nine points in the second quarter, while Cameron Skipworth, Ben DiOrio and Devyn McLeod each got eight points before intermission.
Leading 39-28 at the break, the Bees’ only real scare came early in the third quarter, when Singh scored seven quick points in a 9-2 spurt which cut B’ville’s margin to 41-37.
Any concerns quickly vanished, though, when the Bees countered by going on a 10-0 run of its own, sparked by DiOrio’s leaning jumper that led to a three-point play. Marshall had five of the 10 points in that run.
Liverpool kept fighting until the end, though Hunter cooled off, finishing with 15 points as Singh got all 14 of his points in the second half and Sullivan, who had missed two weeks of action, added 13 points.
But B’ville would never let the margin get closer than eight points again, and it was because every starter was making big contributions on the offensive side.
Marshall led with 20 points, punctuated by a breakaway dunk in the final seconds, and added six rebounds. DiOrio did a bit of everything, dishing out 12 assists, making five steals and grabbing five boards to go with his 17 points.
McLeod nearly got to a double-double, finishing with 14 points and nine rebounds. Skipworth and Kohutanich earned 13 points apiece, with Skipworth adding six rebounds.
With this win, B’ville earns a trip back to the AA quarterfinals. But while it had to deal with Utica Proctor (who eventually won the sectional title) in 2014, it now must try and upend top seed Henninger, whose 18-1 record includes wins over the Bees earned Dec. 12 (79-58) and Jan. 9 (56-46). The winner plays Proctor or Fayetteville-Manlius in the March 1 semifinal at SRC Arena.
