Yes, the 13-0 record was nice. So was the no. 6 state Class A ranking and the consensus that it was the best side in Central New York.

But the Christian Brothers Academy boys basketball team would not feel total satisfaction this winter until it had reversed the recent trend of the “Holy War” and started winning games over Bishop Ludden again.

So it came to pass that the Brothers and Gaelic Knights resumed their half-century-long feud Saturday night at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall as the featured game of the annual Zebra Classic, with CBA well-rested and Ludden supposedly at a disadvantage because it was playing for the third time in as many nights.

None of that mattered, though. What did matter was that Mika Adams-Woods was on Ludden’s side – and his career performance, combined with tremendous defense from the entire squad, helped the Gaelic Knights beat CBA again in a 67-58 decision.

From start to finish, Adams-Woods carried Ludden’s offense, the sophomore sensation picking up 37 points, pushing his team out in front early, continuing to strike for key baskets in the game’s middle stages and then hitting key free throws to close it out.

But even Adams-Woods would admit that the key to it all was the way the entire team took the game to CBA on the defensive end.

Defense is an old-fashioned basketball virtue, so it only figured that it played such an important role on this night, when the two rivals again donned 1970s Parochial League jerseys – Ludden representing Most Holy Rosary and wearing blue instead of its usual green, CBA representing Assumption, but still partly clad in gold.

Applying close man-to-man pressure, especially on the perimeter, Ludden held CBA to one field goal in the first six minutes, and didn’t let the Brothers hit a single 3-pointer in the entire first half.

Meanwhile, anything CBA attempted against Adams-Woods proved futile. Of the Gaelic Knights’ 11 first-quarter points, 10 came from Adams-Woods, and he had 19 points by halftime, exactly matching the Brothers’ total.

Yet even with an eight-point halftime lead, Ludden felt far from safe. And just as many expected, CBA roared back in the third quarter, going on a 10-0 run to take a 32-31 lead. For many teams, the fatigue of a third game in as many nights would hit, but Ludden head coach Pat Donnelly said the benefit of playing a 10-man rotation was that he could conserve his players’ energy so that it could withstand the grind.

Indeed, that’s what Ludden did, quickly regaining the lead with a 12-3 run that involved more of Adams-Woods and also of Joe Connors, who had four of his 12 points in that surge that pushed the Gaelic Knights ahead for good.

“We weathered it (CBA’s run), made a couple of shots and kept our composure” said Donnelly.

The Brothers, who trailed by as much as 11 in the fourth quarter, stayed within range largely on the work of, all people, Adams-Woods’ cousin, Charles Pride, who earned 23 of his 26 points in the second half as Mark Lutz added 13 points and Dan Damico got nine points.

Yet free throws by Adams-Woods, Connors, Will Engelhardt and Ed Walser in the last two minutes helped Ludden hang on, and Adams-Woods said he could keep bragging rights in his own household – at least until CBA gets another shot at the Gaelic Knights on Feb. 9.

All of this followed CBA venturing to Cortland last Tuesday night and running its win streak to 13, though the Purple Tigers did make things a bit tougher for the Brothers than other league foes had done before the visitors won a 65-49 decision.

The second quarter proved decisive as CBA, already up 14-9, outscored Cortland 20-11 in that frame, again relying on tremendous bench production. Matt Purcell set a career mark with 16 points, while Kevin Underwood contributed 11 points.

Stalwarts like Lutz (15 points) and Pride (11 points) did well, too, and helped CBA thwart any Cortland comeback in the second half, though Matt Craig did get 13 points for the Purple Tigers as Will Pace added nine points and John Khazzaka added seven points.

Then CBA got to rest – which didn’t help reverse recent history against Ludden, whom it hasn’t beat since 2012. On the other hand, the Brothers have enjoyed the upper hand against its neighbors from Jamesville-DeWitt, whom it will visit this Friday night.