West Genesee’s boys basketball team did itself proud during the second half of Tuesday night’s Section III Class AA quarterfinal at Bishop Ludden, outscoring the Gaelic Knights and getting a big effort from senior guard Nick Cunningham.
It was just the first half that ultimately proved the Wildcats’ undoing.
Hot at the outset, Ludden, the no. 3 seed, fired up the home crowd and built a big early margin, and no matter what it did, the no. 6 seed Wildcats could not overcome that, taking a 74-61 defeat.
So once again, WG’s season ended in the sectional quarterfinals. A year ago, the Wildcats lost, 68-58, to Cicero-North Syracuse, but it felt that this year it had the capacity to turn that result around.
Not only had WG played each of the top two seeds (Henninger and Nottingham) close this winter, it had also faced nothing but Class AA competition, while Ludden, playing in the Onondaga High School League Freedom division, had mostly faced (and beat) Class A foes.
But the Gaelic Knights featured, in seniors Zach Walser and Jack Rauch, a formidable front line with experience that included three sectional titles and a state Class B crown in 2012. Also, it was at home, where only Bishop Kearney had beaten them this winter.
Though both teams had gone through a 10-day layoff before the sectional quarterfinal, it was WG that remained cold, only managing three points in the first quarter and, worse yet, seeing Troy Temara pick up two quick fouls.
Even with that, though, Ludden wasn’t content, applying full-court pressure that led to turnovers and more baskets on the other end, especially from freshman point guard Mika Adams-Woods, who had 11 of his 21 points in the second quarter as WG’s deficit grew at one point to 27-8.
From there, the chase began. WG closed the gap to 37-24 by halftime, and would get all kinds of opportunities to move within single digits during the second half, but could not do so.
This happened despite Cunningham catching fire. Of his game-high 28 points, 21 of them came in the second half, 15 of them in the fourth quarter, while Sam Brown contributed 12 points.
Ludden still got away, with Adams-Woods dishing out eight assists to go with his 21 points as Walser had 18 points and eight rebounds, and Rauch got 17 points and nine rebounds. Will Engelhardt added eight points.
With that win, the Gaelic Knights advanced to face no. 2 seed Nottingham in Sunday night’s AA semifinal at 6:30 at SRC Arena. The winner returns to that court exactly one week later to face Henninger or Utica Proctor for the sectional championship.
Just down the road, Westhill began the defense of its sectional, state and Federation Class B titles in an emphatic manner, wiping out no. 8 seed South Jefferson 80-34 in the sectional Class B quarterfinals.
Whatever hope the Spartans gained by only trailing 17-11 after one period quickly vanished as the Warriors picked up man-to-man pressure and nearly shut out South Jefferson in the second quarter, the 18-2 run setting the tone for the rest of the night.
Other than Benner Guertsen’s 20 points, no other Spartans player had more than two field goals. Jordan Roland led Westhill with 22 points and four rebounds, while Tyler Reynolds got 13 points. The bench produced, too, as Brian Daily managed 12 points and four rebounds, and Mike Burton had eight points. Jeff Lobello got six points and five assists.
