On an important Wednesday night, boys basketball teams from Bishop Ludden and Westhill faced big tests – the Gaelic Knights at Jamesville-DeWitt, the Warriors against Syracuse’s Institute of Technology Central – and they would get very different results.
For Ludden, who had handed archrival CBA its first defeat of the season on Jan. 16 at the Zebra Classic, there was no letdown at all as it pulled away to pummel the Red Rams 75-51.
On the other hand, Westhill, still short-handed without forward Chase Gedney or Sean Dadey in the lineup, saw the Eagles stay right with them and then, in the fourth quarter, move out in front and stay there, eventually beating the Warriors 79-74.
Ludden got alerted to the task early when J-D forward Jimmy Boeheim notched 13 first-quarter points. Eventually, the Gaelic Knights withstood that storm and led, 24-18, at the end of that period, and from there gradually took charge.
Up 40-28 at halftime, Ludden got away and, unlike with CBA, didn’t need Mika Adams-Woods to put up career-high numbers.
Instead, Adams-Woods, with 23 points, gladly shared the glory with Matt Hosek and Chris Allen, who earned 12 points apiece, and Jim Grabowski, who had 11 points. Will Engelhardt nearly reached double figures, too, earning nine points as Boeheim finished with 29 points, more than half of J-D’s output.
Meanwhile, paced by Ryan Roland and Owen Matukas, Westhill led ITC 35-30 at the end of an active first half. Yet it did little in the second half to contain the Eagles, who proved that it had more than James Walker, whose last outing had included 40 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a Jan. 15 win over Syracuse Academy of Science.
Granted, Walker still led with 23 points and added eight rebounds, but Doug Campbell added 12 points and 13 rebounds as Tr’Von Balaam added 12 points, eight assists and four rebounds and Iqual Dancil poured in 15 points.
Roland topped them all with his 33 points, adding six assists and five rebounds, while Matukas earned 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. But no other Westhill player reached double figures, though Kameren Jackson and John Geer (nine points apiece) got close.
Two nights later, Westhill met Norwich, whom it beat in a famous 2014 Class B regional final en route to the first of back-to-back state titles.
Here, the Purple Tornado gained a bit of payback as it defeated the Warriors 60-51, building up a 36-29 halftime lead and relying on its defense to keep Westhill from making any kind of run in the last two periods.
In defeat, Roland was held to 16 points, though he added four rebounds and five assists. Geer improved to 11 points and four rebounds, with Jackson and Scrimale each getting seven points and Jackson adding six rebounds. Jordan Mancano, moved up from the JV ranks, finished with six points.
On Saturday, Westhill played its third game in four days against Community Health Academy of the Heights, from New York City, and broke its brief skid, prevailing 68-54 as it built a 33-22 halftime lead, only to see CHAH rally before the Warriors pulled away late.
In addition to his 18 points, Roland delivered six assists, passes going to, among others, Jackson, who had 12 points and five rebounds, and David Straughter, who got 11 points. Marcano added nine rebounds and seven points as Matukas finished with nine points.
That same afternoon, Bishop Ludden had a non-league game at Oswego and won, 72-53, though it was fairly close in the first half. The Gaelic Knights were only up by five, 31-26, at the break before it took over in the third quarter, outscoring the Buccaneers 21-6 to get away.
Fouled often, Adams-Woods and Allen both made eight free throws as Adams-Woods finished with 20 points and Allen got 16 points. Not hacked as much, Grabowski and Sh’ikem Lee each had nine points as Mike Poston, with 12 points, was the lone Bucs player to score in double figures.
