Regardless of the circumstances each side found itself in, any boys basketball game that featured Bishop Ludden and Westhill on the same court was bound to draw some attention and feature some intense head-to-head battles.
And so it was that the Gaelic Knights and Warriors gathered for their neighborhood clash last Saturday at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall, the same floor where they both played – and won – during the Zebra Classic two weeks earlier, the Gaelic Knights over CBA, the Warriors over Skaneateles.
But Westhill was severely short-handed, and Ludden, taking full advantage, rolled past the Warriors 64-44 to improve to 12-3 on the season as the Warriors, dropping its third game in two weeks, fell to 11-4.
Already without Chase Gedney and Sean Dadey, Westhill was further depleted when Kameren Jackson was unable to go against Ludden. Thus, the team’s two best forwards (Gedney and Jackson) were out, and surrendering its paint presence against the full-strength Gaelic Knights proved too difficult for the Warriors to overcome.
With a big physical advantage, Ludden, trailing 22-19 in the second quarter, went on a decisive 16-0 run. The Gaelic Knights also had a 9-0 run in the third quarter and, other than Ryan Roland’s 24 points, no other Warrior player had more than Owen Matukas, who finished with six points.
Mika Adams-Woods, who scored 37 points on this same floor against CBA, didn’t even reach half that total, but his 17 points still led the Gaelic Knights, and he had lots of support. Matt Hosek had 12 points, with Chris Allen contributing 10 points. Joe Connor had nine points as Sh’ikem Lee and Will Engelhardt got seven points apiece.
Again, Ludden played a big game a night after winning at home, only in this case the opponent was a big name, Jamesville-DeWitt, who arrived last Friday night and, for the second time in as many weeks, got run over by a 24-point margin as the Gaelic Knights claimed a comfortable 80-56 victory.
Despite the fact that Ludden had gone to J-D and won 75-51 on Jan. 20, it couldn’t take the game lightly since, in the ensuing nine days, the Red Rams had knocked off CBA 66-62, by far its most noteworthy win of the season.
And for a while, it appeared J-D could get even with the Gaelic Knights, too, but after Darvin Lovette’s basket tied it, 19-19, with 5:31 left in the second quarter, Ludden did not allow a basket for the next seven-plus minutes.
It was Jim Grabowski, coming off bench, sparking the decisive 21-1 run, earning seven consecutive points late in that second period. It helped, too, that the Gaelic Knights dominated on the offensive board, accumulating chances and wearing J-D down while, at the same time, pressuring the Rams into turnovers and bad shots on the other end.
Adams-Woods made sure the Rams didn’t come back, earning nine points in the third quarter and 27 overall, to go with eight assists. Grabowski finished with 13 points, while Engelhardt got 10 points. Hosek (seven points), Connors (six points), Allen, Lee and Ed Walser (six points each) helped, too, as Lovette paced J-D with 19 points and Jimmy Boeheim added 17 points.
Westhill tuned up by going to Solvay last Wednesday night and focusing on its defense to make up for a short-handed lineup as it beat the Bearcats 61-36.
Even short-handed, the Warriors started fast on Solvay, leading 22-10 after one period, and that lead looked twice as large given the way Westhill’s man-to-man pressure operated throughout the night.
Solvay never more than those 10 points in any single period, the Warriors drawing away while seeing Matukas take charge of the attack, earning 18 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals.
Roland wasn’t quiet, getting 11 points, but John Geer chimed in with 13 points and four rebounds, with David Straughter contributing eight points. No one on Solvay scored in double figures, with Mike Yaizzo (eight points) and Sammy Kippen (seven points) getting closest to that mark.