Over the course of five days, the Bishop Ludden and Westhill boys basketball teams will engage in the most high-profile of local holiday tournaments, starting with the Gaelic Knights hosting its own Rosemary Corcoran Classic on Saturday and Sunday and continuing next Tuesday and Wednesday with the Warriors part of Christian Brothers Academy’s Bottar-Leone Classic.

Westhill went to CBA with the no. 15 state Class B ranking, having built lots of momentum through the way it finished its December slate within the OHSL Liberty division, the key moment coming last Thursday when it went to Skaneateles and handed the Lakers its first defeat of the season by a 70-51 margin.

Skaneateles had started 5-0, but had not faced anyone of the Warriors’ quality. Still, it kept pace during most of the first quarter, aided by Marc Pietropaoli, who had his team’s first eight points and 10 points overall in the period.

But sparked by eight points (including a pair of 3-pointers) by Owen Matukas off the bench, the Warriors seized the lead for good late in the opening period. Then it maintained that margin with Ryan Roland netting 10 of his team-high 19 points in the second quarter, so Westhill was up 36-30 at the break.

What put things away was that Westhill, in the third quarter, tightened its man-to-man pressure and took away driving lanes for the Lakers’ guards, especially Pietropaoli and Jake Reed, while at the same time shutting down the team’s top scorer, Pete Knupp, who had just one field goal all night.

Also, the Warriors went inside to Chase Gedney, who netted eight of his 12 points in that third quarter and also got six rebounds. In all, five Warriors would hit double figures, with Kameren Jackson and Antonio Scrimale each getting 10 points and Jackson adding seven rebounds and four assists. Roland had seven assists and four rebounds as Gedney contributed six boards.

Ludden, with its no. 21 state Class AA ranking, still was dealing with punishments from multiple suspensions (including Mika Adams-Woods) when it met Cortland Tuesday night, but still got a 60-44 victory over the Purple Tigers.

Steadily, the Gaelic Knights built a 45-30 lead through three periods, and Joe Connors led the way, pouring in 17 points. Jim Grabowski, with 15 points, was close behind, while Chris Allen finished with 11 points. Jack Allen added eight points as Ludden’s strong defense prevented any Cortland player from scoring in double figures.

Back on Friday, Marcellus won its second game in a row, rolling past Hannibal 67-43 to improve to 3-4. This was close for a while, but the Mustangs, up by just three at halftime, outscored those other Warriors 36-15 and dominated the last two periods.

Mike Melnyczuk continued his stellar season, leading Marcellus with 21 points, but Tom Fiacchi was close behind, earning half of his 18 points from three 3-pointers. Kyle Cangemi added 10 points as Connor McNeil paced Hannibal with 12 points.

By contrast, Jordan-Elbridge got overwhelmed that same night in a 105-55 defeat to Syracuse Academy of Science, the Atoms using a 31-9 first-quarter blitz to take charge and continuing to go from there until it zoomed past the century mark in the closing minutes.

Dale Wagner, with 16 points, and Brandon Macvicz, with 14 points, led the Eagles’ efforts, with Dylan Dunham adding eight points, but it was far from enough. SAS got 24 points from Symir Torrence, 23 points from Jessie Murray and 22 points from Khari Odoms as it connected on 14 3-point shots by game’s end.

J-E somehow turned around from all this last Tuesday and beat Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 59-53, erasing an early deficit by outscoring the Rebels 21-12 in the second quarter.

Then the margin grew to 46-38 before a late APW rally fell short. Dunham rose up for 19 points, but Macvicz and Wagner were close behind, each earning 16 points as Justin Bristol paced the Rebels, but had just 14 points.

Marcellus had to deal with unbeaten, state Class B no. 11-ranked Bishop Grimes Tuesday night, and gave the Cobras plenty to worry about until its upset bid fell just short in a 57-52 defeat.

All game long, the Mustangs kept the tempo to its own liking, using long possessions to keep it away from Grimes’ high-scoring attack while, at the same time, playing sound defense. It translated to a closely-fought contest that was tied, 39-39, going to the fourth quarter.

Only here did Marcellus falter, unable to prevail despite 13 points from Melnyczuk, 12 points from Fiacchi and 10 points from Jerrod Gates. Grimes pulled through as A.C. Ater and Shawn Gashi had 15 points apiece, with Mark Shattuck and Luciano Vigliotti each earning nine points.

As that went on, Solvay returned to action at Cazenovia, where it nipped the Lakers 48-42 despite struggling on offense for most of the night.

In fact, the Bearcats trailed the Lakers, 29-28, going to the fourth quarter, but seized control behind the hot shooting of Blake Bagozzi, who landed most of his six 3-pointers in those latter stages and finished with 22 points, nearly half his team’s output. Mike Yaizzo added 13 points as, on Cazenovia’s side, Daniel Kent led with just 10 points.

Solvay returns to Madison County early next week for the Chittenango Tournament, where the Bearcats met Whitesboro in the opening round and wanted to get to Tuesday’s final against the host Chittenango Bears, or Tully.

J-E hosts its own tournament, meeting Cato-Meridian in next Tuesday’s opening and looking to advance to a Dec. 30 final against Hannibal or Phoenix, while Marcellus gets rival Skaneateles in Monday night’s opening round of the More Than A Game Touranment at SRC Arena, possibly getting a rematch with Grimes, or Susquehanna Valley.