In between high-profile holiday tournaments and big games at this Saturday’s Zebra Classic at Onondaga Community College, the Bishop Ludden and Westhill boys basketball teams did not look past last week’s opposition.
Bishop Ludden would host Central Square last Tuesday night, ending a nine-day break with a convincing 70-46 victory over the Redhawks.
Strong defense propelled the Gaelic Knights as it held Central Square in check throughout the first half with man-to-man pressure that forced turnovers and missed shots. By the break, Ludden had a 39-18 led, so it could afford to back off in the second half without too much damage.
Mika Adams-Woods got a double-double, the sophomore guard earning 17 points to go with 10 rebounds. Joe Connors matched Adams-Woods, getting 17 points of his own, while Chris Allen got 10 points and Matt Hosek added nine points. Jake Kulakowski led Central Square with 18 points and five rebounds.
Ludden played again on Friday, bashing East Syracuse Minoa 90-47, a game highlighted by Adams-Woods draining a string of 3-pointers during a 27-point first half as the Gaelic Knights grabbed a 56-28 halftime lead. Adams-Woods finished with 32 points, while Ed Walser stepped up with 16 points and Jim Grabowski added 11 points.
Then the Gaelic Knights confronted Rochester-area power Bishop Kearney last Saturday afternoon, and perhaps the toll of back-to-back games hit the young Gaelic Knights hard as it fell to the Kings 67-49 for just its second defeat of the season.
Throughout the first half, Ludden’s defense played quite well, and it outscored Kearney 15-8 in the second quarter to lead, 21-20, at the break. That didn’t last, though, as the Kings doubled up the Gaelic Knights in a 24-12 third quarter that proved decisive.
Once more, Ludden’s main problem, on offense, was that no one really helped Adams-Woods, who poured in 27 points, more than half his team’s output. Grabowski had six points, with Connors and Sh’ikem Lee adding five points apiece.
Westhill, who had come so close to upending host CBA in the Dec. 29 final of the Bottar-Leone Holiday Classic, was back in action last Tuesday night, hosting Jordan-Elbridge and cruising to a 66-45 victory over the Eagles.
Much of the margin was built in the first half, where Westhill steadily gained a 39-21 advantage. Ten different Warrior players scored at least one field goal, with Ryan Roland sharing top honors with Ryan Dadey, each of them scoring 12 points.
Owen Matukas managed 10 points, while Jack Gilmartin (seven points) and John Geer (six points) did well seeing extended minutes that allowed the likes of Chase Gedney and Kamren Jackson to relax. On J-E’s side, Brandon Macvicz led with 11 points, while Dylan Dunham had 10 points and Dale Wagner earned eight points.
Two nights later, the Warriors ripped Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 86-43, a game that started with an 18-4 first-quarter run and pretty much stayed the same the rest of the way, with Roland piecing together 24 points, five assists, five steals and three rebounds.
Matukas, in particular, stepped up, not only scoring 17 points, but also earning six rebounds and six assists. Gedney contributed his own double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds as Braeden Elmer had seven points. Antonio Scrimale and Holden Carroll had six points apiece and Sean Dadey managed five assists.
J-E would take on Syracuse’s Institute of Technology Central Friday night and take a tough 60-54 defeat, unable to hang on despite containing ITC in the first half and grabbing a 29-19 lead. Wagner and Aiden Carpenter each had 11 points, with Macvicz and Jonah Patrick getting nine points apiece and Collin Barrigar seven points.
On Thursday night, Marcellus had a rare opportunity, getting a third chance to knock off neighbor and rival Skaneateles, but this game ended just like the first two, with the Mustangs game, but still taking a 64-58 defeat to the Lakers.
Bent on turning previous fortunes around, Marcellus grabbed a 15-8 first-quarter lead. But Skaneateles made up most of that margin by halftime and, throughout the second half, provided timely scoring runs to thwart every spurt the Mustangs made.
Mike Melnyczuk again led his team’s offense, earning 17 points. Tom Fiacchi had 12 points, while Ben Fedorenko got eight points. Jerrod Gates had seven points as Gavin Hoey and Nick Femano each had six points. On the Lakers’ side, Pete Knupp, with 21 points, and Jake Reed, with 17 points, led the charge.
Solvay had a remarkable defensive effort in last Tuesday night’s 58-9 destruction of Hannibal, a game where the Bearcats were hot in the first half just as the Warriors got stifled, leading to a 36-6 halftime margin.
As if that wasn’t enough, Hannibal had just one field goal the entire second half, and saw Blake Bagozzi nearly double the opposing team’s production all by himself, finishing with a team-high 17 points. Sammy Kippen added 10 points as Alex Britton got eight points and Mike Cimino had six points.
On Saturday, the Bearcats met Cazenovia, making up a game postponed in early December when the Lakers still had players who hadn’t practiced because they were helping Cazenovia win a state Class B football championship.
Despite its 2-7 records, though, the Lakers upended Solvay 43-42, inching out in front in the fourth quarter of a tightly-played contest where no one could make a sustained run. Aside from Yaizzo, who had 19 points, and Bagozzi, who had 12 points, the rest of the squad had just four combined field goals.
