Geddes — Maybe it only figured for the West Genesee boys basketball team that a season full of frustrating near-misses ended with one.
For the second season in a row, the Wildcats were stopped by Bishop Ludden in the Section III Class AA quarterfinals. But unlike 2015, where WG lost by a 74-61 margin, this one lay in doubt right until the buzzer, when the Gaelic Knights held on in a 51-50 thriller.
Trailing by double digits for large portions of the game, the no. 6 seed Wildcats did everything it could to snatch victory from no. 3 seed Ludden, who through its own mistakes nearly surrendered the contest.
The real excitement started at the end of the third quarter. Having seen an early 30-12 lead whittle down to single digits, the Gaelic Knights appeared to regain the momentum when Mika Adams-Woods connected on a shot from well beyond half-court, which gave the sophomore 25 points on the night.
Somehow, WG absorbed this blow, cranked up its defense on Adams-Woods and Ludden’s other guards and turned their misses into fast breaks and baskets on the other end. By the time the Gaelic Knights regained its footing, the Wildcats were within one, 49-48, with a minute to play.
That final minute included enough plot twists to last an entire season.
Fouled with a chance to get the lead, Malik Zachery missed. On the ensuing inbounds play, Chris Allen, who had transferred from WG to Ludden before the season, got fouled and, with 29.3 seconds left, made both of the free throws, stretching out Ludden’s lead to 51-48.
Another defensive stop appeared to ice it for the Gaelic Knights, but with 9.6 seconds to play and out of time-outs, it could not inbound the ball against the Wildcats’ pressure. Frustrated, Adams-Woods picked up a technical foul, which both took him out of the game because he had five fouls, but gave WG a great chance to pull it out.
continued — Given two technical free throws, Jack Bova made both of them. On the ensuing inbounds play, Zachery drove to the basket, but Allen blocked his shot, grabbed the loose ball and, with less than three seconds left, got fouled.
WG’s students were in full throat, yelling “Traitor” chants at Allen as he went to the line, and with a one-and-one opportunity, Allen missed the front end. WG pulled down the rebound and, with two seconds left, called time-out.
Forced to go the length of the court, WG tried two passes, with Troy Temara feeding Bova on the right side beyond the 3-point line. Bova took the shot – but the horn had gone off first, so it would not have counted even if the shot, which went off the rim, did find the net.
Temara, in defeat, led the Wildcats with 16 points, while Zachery and Bova had 10 points apiece. Chris LaValle added six points as Joe Connor got 10 points for Ludden and Allen earned 11 rebounds.
Now the Gaelic Knights face no. 2 seed Henninger in Saturday’s AA semifinal at SRC Arena, a rematch of the 2015 title game won by the Black Knights. Now, though, the prize is simply getting to the sectional final on Feb. 27 against Liverpool or Corcoran.
