More than the usual amount of aches and pains has affected the West Genesee boys basketball team this season, but it has overcome those struggles to make a push for a high Section III Class AA playoff seed – if it can avenge close home losses to Henninger and Liverpool early in February.
Having seen Malik Zachery miss some time early in the season with a wrist injury, the Wildcats’ more recent concerns center around forward Troy Temara, who sustained a back injury in that first meeting with Liverpool Jan. 7 and has battled it ever since.
Despite this, Temara would play a crucial role in last Tuesday’s game against visiting Cicero-North Syracuse, who needed a win to clinch a playoff berth – but was denied by the Wildcats, who pulled away late for a 71-48 victory.
The Northstars, who lost 54-45 to WG back on Dec. 11, started fast, but that quickly dissipated when the Wildcats scored 11 unanswered points in the first quarter. Though C-NS pulled back within three, 23-20, it saw WG reclaim control late in the half with an 11-2 push.
Much the same thing happened in the third quarter, with the Northstars clamping down on defense and, through a 15-4 spurt, moving back within range. But clinging to a 45-41 lead, WG turned to Temara, who hit back-to-back baskets and then saw Chris LaValle hit a 3-pointer before the horn, sparking a run where the Wildcats outscored C-NS 26-7 the rest of the way.
Temara finished with 14 points, but it was Nate Phillips coming off the bench to lead WG with a career-best 15 points, while Zachery had 12 points. LaValle finished with nine points as Owen Cross gained seven points and Chris Bova had six points. Only A.J. Nesci, with 10 points, reached double figures for C-NS, adding six assists.
WG now faced Rome Free Academy 24 hours, resting Temara against an opponent the Wildcats expected to beat – but instead, it blew a big fourth-quarter lead and lost, 55-54, to the Black Knights.
With one period left, WG was in front, 47-35, and it extended that margin to 14 with five minutes left, mostly on the strength of Bova’s seven 3-pointers that accounted for most of his 23 points. Phillips had seven points, with LaValle adding six points.
But at the wrong time, the Wildcats slumped, and RFA raced back, erasing that huge deficit and pulling it out at the wire because it spread things around. Tyrone Cowell led the Black Knights, earning 13 points, while Gavin Mosher, Tashaun Pearson and Ethan Powell had nine points apiece.
From this stunning result, WG looked to recover when it hosted Auburn Friday on Senior Night, and it would do so, pulling away late to beat the Maroons 87-64.
Steadily, WG built a 43-30 halftime lead, and didn’t let up until five players had reached double figures. Temara, in his last regular-season home game, shook off his back trouble and had 18 points, with LaValle matching that total as Bova hit three more 3-pointers to join Lucas Sutherland in earning 11 points apiece. Zachery had 10 points and Phillips added nine points.
West Genesee’s girls team also faced Auburn – but only after going to Cicero-North Syracuse last Thursday night and taking a 66-34 defeat to the Northstars.
C-NS not only is no. 2 in the state Class AA rankings, it’s also no. 10 in the USA Today Super 25 poll of the nation’s best teams. The Wildcats, who lost 66-39 at home to the Northstars on Dec. 17, would get a second dose of that excellence here – but not right away.
WG actually scored 12 points in the first quarter in the face of C-NS’s well-regarded defense, but in the second quarter, it managed just four points when any sort of run might have kept it close. Then the Northstars got away, led by Beth Bonin (17 points) and McKayla Roberts (15 points), who each made three 3-pointers.
On the Wildcats’ side, no one reached double figures, but Madison Smith earned nine points, while Mya Case had seven points. Haley Collins and Camryn Chawgo earned six points apiece.
Now WG faced Auburn, and while it wasn’t easy, the Wildcats prevailed, 45-36 to improve to 10-8 on the season, staying patient after the Maroons took the early lead. Trailing 22-16 at the break, WG turned it around with a 17-4 push through the third quarter and never trailed again.
Sierra Smith, with 12 points, and Chawgo, with 11 points, led the comeback, each hitting on a pair of 3-pointers. Mackenzie Smith also connected twice beyond the arc on her way to eight points as Madison Smith got seven points. Auburn lost despite 10 points from Grace Baranick and 16 rebounds from Jania Freeman.
