Though it took nearly the entire regular season, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys basketball team did find its way into the Section III Class AA playoffs.

All the Hornets needed was to win against visiting Baldwinsville Friday night, and with its lineup finally at something close to full strength, F-M accomplished its mission, pulling away to beat the Bees 68-50.

A close game broke open when the Hornets, trailing 15-11 after one period, completely turned it around in the second quarter. F-M outscored B’ville 14-6 in that frame, and then added to that margin in the third quarter to put it out of the Bees’ reach.

Jawaan Crouch had a big night, with 21 points, four rebounds and four assists, while three others – David Stegemann, Ryan Miller and Josh Loeffler – got nine points apiece, Stegemann adding 11 rebounds and Loeffler and Miller four rebounds apiece as Fernando Johnson contributed eight points and seven rebounds.

No B’ville player had more than the eight points put up by Adam Seguin (who added seven rebounds) and Jordan Fragale (who got four points and four assists).

F-M got no help in last Tuesday night’s trip to Liverpool, which quickly spiraled out of control as the Hornets lost, 86-53, to the Warriors.

Hoping that it would get closer to Liverpool after a 85-62 home defeat on Dec. 22, F-M did keep it within sight during a wild, high-scoring first half, but then the Warriors gradually started to get away, building a 42-31 margin by halftime and then blitzing the visitors 29-8 during a decisive third quarter.

Though 12 different F-M players got on the scoreboard, none had more than Tim Zapisek’s total of 11 points. Zapisek added four rebounds as Johnson had eight points, with Stegemann getting seven points and seven rebounds. Crouch and Joe Avellino had six points apiece.

Liverpool, meanwhile, saw a bit of history when, in the third quarter, senior guard Tyler Sullivan hit a free throw to reach 1,000 career points. All told, Sullivan had 15 points, matching teammate Will Cutler as Naz Johnson led both sides with 21 points and Devan Mederios added 10 points.

F-M’s girls basketball team never had to worry about any of this drama, knowing it would pick up a high sectional Class AA playoff seed and, at the very least, give itself a good chance of advancing to the championship round.

Still, it was worrisome to see the Hornets go to Baldwinsville last Friday and take a 46-42 defeat to the Bees, the very same team it beat 52-43 at home one month earlier.

Backat home, the Bees would turn around that result because its defense refused to give in, even after F-M, buoyed by a 16-8 push through the second quarter, took a 25-18 lead to halftime.

During the pivotal third quarter, B’ville held the Hornets to just five points. It remained stingy in the fourth quarter, too, enough to forge a 36-36 tie and send it to OT, where in the four-minute session the Bees grabbed the lead and held on tight.

Offensively, B’ville relied on balance to overcome the work of F-M teammates D’Jhai Patterson-Ricks, who had 17 points, and Carly Assimon, who had 12 points.

Carolyn Brussel had a sensational all-around effort, earning 11 points, five rebounds, four blocks and four assists. E,mily Pascale had 10 points, four rebounds and three steals, with Kaylee Lammers getting nine points and seven rebounds. Riley Carlucci and Mackenzie Schaffner each had eight points and each hit double-figures on the board, with Schaffner notching 11 rebounds and Carlucci 10 rebounds.

The Hornets’ challenging regular-season homestretch had commenced last Tuesday night with a bit of payback against Liverpool as Patterson-Ricks and Assimon keyed a 58-50 victory over the Warriors.

Back on Dec. 22, Liverpool had handed F-M its first loss of the season, 50-39, and the Hornets hadn’t forgotten, especially Patterson-Ricks, who would put on a personal showcase at the Warriors’ expense.

A wild first half saw F-M hold Liverpool to four points in the opening quarter, only to see the Warriors rally with a big second-period surge to only trail by three, 29-26, at the break.

F-M restored that margin early in the second half, though, and, with Patterson-Ricks constantly drawing contact, withstood all of the Warriors’ charges. Patterson-Ricks finished with a season-best 27 points, 15 of which came from free throws.

Assimon, finished with 16 points, making sure that the Warriors didn’t concentrate on Patterson-Ricks. For its part, Liverpool did not have as much scoring depth as usual, relying a lot on Jenna Wike, who had 16 points, and Kyra Grimshaw, who added 14 points. Drew Dufrane contributed nine points.