All was going smoothly for the West Genesee boys basketball team in the course of its game against Baldwinsville last Friday night – at least until the fourth quarter got underway.
Suddenly, the Wildcats’ confidence was shaken, and enough cracks opened up for the previously winless Bees to pull through and, with the help of some big plays at the end, pulling out its first victory of the season by a score of 59-58.
WG was coming off back-to-back wins over Fayetteville-Manlius and Auburn, but had not played in a week. Concerns over rust quickly faded, though, and the Wildcats eased its way into the lead in the early going, eventually building up a 33-26 halftime margin.
When that lead grew to 48-39 entering the fourth quarter, WG may have started to ponder its showdown with unbeaten Henninger two days before Christmas –and if so, B’ville, though dressed in red, proved far less generous than Santa Claus, making the Wildcats pay for that drift.
As the final minutes wore on, WG’s lead whittled down to one, 58-57. Then the Bees gained the ball and, with 17 seconds left, a lob pass by Jordan Fragale found Cameron Skipworth, who slammed home the go-ahead basket on an alley-oop play.
Still, it wasn’t over. The Wildcats worked for a winning shot, and took it – but it went off the rim, and an ensuing defensive scramble allowed B’ville to run out the clock.
WG lost despite a game-high 21 points from Troy Temara, with Nick Cunningham adding 15 points and Sam Brown finishing with 10 points. Skipworth finished with 11 points, behind Tim Marshall, who had nine of his 17 points at the free-throw line, and ahead of Ben DiOrio, who had 10 points.
Another chance for the Wildcats to make a big impression came on Tuesday night against unbeaten Henninger, and the prospect of an upset loomed for a long time before the visiting Black Knights took over late, handing WG a 65-51 defeat.
Fired up at the outset, the Wildcats led, 17-12, after one period, and clung to a 30-28 edge at halftime. Even during the third quarter, as Henninger moved out in front, WG stayed within close range.
All of that changed, though, in the final period, the Black Knights closing on a 19-7 run as Romero Collier, who finished with 19 points, and Shaitique Blatche, with 18 points, helped Henninger earn its sixth consecutive victory. Before slumping late, Cunningham produced 19 points, while Temara managed 16 points.
WG would look to bounce back this weekend at SRC Arena, playing in the “More Than A Game” Holiday Tournament as it took on Corcoran Saturday night at 8 p.m., and then would face Cicero-North Syracuse or Utica Proctor on Sunday night.
