Many things ended beyond the boys basketball seasons of Westhill and Solvay during Wednesday night’s Section III Class B quarterfinals.
When the Warriors’ furious rally fell short in a 74-72 defeat to Syracuse Academy of Science, it halted any hopes the Warriors had of going after a third consecutive state championship and fourth straight sectional title, and confirmed the toll injuries had taken on that quest.
And when the Bearcats’ valiant effort in a 66-57 overtime loss to Institute of Technology Syracuse Central concluded, so did the coaching tenure of Joe Barnello, who is stepping away despite the cries of “one more year!” from fans after it was over.
Had both teams had won, Westhill, the no. 2 seed, and Solvay, the no. 6 seed, would have clashed in Sunday’s sectional semifinal right down the road at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall, but it did not work out that way.
Westhill, who had missed Chase Gedney and Sean Dadey in the lineup throughout the second half of the season, was trying to turn around a result from exactly one week earlier, when SAS beat them 70-57. They would not have met in this round had the Atoms not forfeited four games due to use of an ineligible player, which moved them from a no. 4 to no. 7 seed before the sectional tournament started.
Having routed Cazenovia 70-37 in the opening round on Feb. 12, SAS confidently traded baskets with the Warriors until the second quarter, when the Atoms appeared to gain control, outscoring Westhill 22-12 and taking a 39-28 lead to the break.
But the Warriors were far from done. Holding SAS in check during the third quarter and forcing one of its top players, Symir Torrence, to foul out, it moved back within 49-44, only to see the Atoms respond with crucial baskets throughout the final period, appearing to put it away.
Still, trailing by nine, Westhill made one more stand, hitting on four 3-pointers in the last minute to whittle the margin down as Ryan Roland worked his total to 32 points go go with five assists, four rebounds and four steals.
SAS held on, though, behind 20 points from Nessiah Smith and 17 points from Kenyang Lual, while Khari Odoms had eight points in an extended stint at point guard after Torrence (12 points) left and Noreon Wiliams had nine points.
To help out Roland, the Warriors saw Owen Matukas get 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Kameren Jackson had 10 points and five rebounds. John Geer got seven points and Jordan Marcano added six points.
A few hours earlier, another drama played out as Solvay, the no. 6 seed coming off a 52-33 first-round win over Lowville, tried to topple no. 3 seed ITSC, and nearly did so.
During the first quarter, the Bearcats, employing a matchup zone defense, held the Eagles to two points. Yet it couldn’t take full advantage of that defensive wizardry and build a big lead, though it did keep pace one things livened up late in the half and led, 27-19, going to the break.
ITSC made up the deficit in the third quarter, tying it, 33-33, and setting up a fourth quarter where Solvay continued to dictate the tempo, but could not put away the game, leaving it at 45-45 heading into OT.
Once the Eagles took the lead in the extra period, it put things away with free throws, leading to 21 points in that four-minute period.
James Walker had 12 of those points, giving him 24 overall to go with seven rebounds to lead ITSC as Iquail Dancil had 17 points, seven rebounds, four steals and four blocks and Douglas Campbell added 13 points and nine rebounds.
On Solvay’s side, Blake Bagozzi hit on four 3-pointers and finished with 21 points overall. Mike Yaizzo connected three times beyond the arc on his way to 15 points, with Jake Dippold earning 14 points.
