It’s an unfortunate aspect of the 2016-17 season that the Westhill and Bishop Ludden boys basketball teams don’t meet each other in the regular season, despite their close proximity and quality of their programs.
However, the Warriors and Gaelic Knights both managed to have games against closely neighboring opponents last Tuesday night, and both emerged victorious as Westhill handled Corcoran 64-47 and Ludden held off Syracuse Academy of Science.
Traditionally an annual Class AA sectional contender, Corcoran has a new head coach, Jesse Long, on the sidelines following Tim Schmidt’s departure, and the Cougars are still getting used to his system, something the Warriors don’t have to worry about.
It was in the game’s middle stages that things turned around, Westhill breaking out of a 13-13 tie by outscoring the Cougars 21-11 the rest of the half. That lead grew to 48-33 by the end of the third quarter, ultimately out of Corcoran’s reach despite a game-high 28 points from Jahaad Henry.
Kamren Jackson’s strong start continued as he poured in 20 points and added nine rebounds. Sean Dadey had 13 points and four assists, while Antonio Scrimable dished out eight assists as he joined Owen Matukas, the pair getting 10 points apiece. John Geer added seven points.
Meanwhile, Bishop Ludden hardly had time to bask in winning the rematch of the 2016 sectional final over Liverpool in the Dec. 3 Peppino’s Invitational at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall.
Instead, the Gaelic Knights played a Syracuse Academy of Science that proved its move from Class B to A was warranted. A fast-paced first quarter saw the Atoms break through Ludden’s defenses on a regular basis.
Still, Ludden kept the lead, and would nurse it the rest of the night. Up 38-29 at the break, the Gaelic Knights would maintain its poise and answer every single time SAS tried to make things closer.
Mika Adams-Woods delivered 24 points, five rebounds and two steals. Sh’ikem Lee had one of the best games of his career, earning 18 points, while Ed Walser had 12 points and eight rebounds and Joe Connor got 10 points.
SAS also had four players score in double figures, led by Kenyang Lual, who had 18 points and nine rebounds, closely followed by Symir Torrence (16 points, seven rebounds), Khari Odom (also 16 points) and Messiah Smith (12 points).
And this led to another marquee showdown on Friday night, Ludden paying a visit to Bishop Grimes, who reached the state Class B final four a year ago and, under the direction of Bob McKenney, have moved up to Class A this winter and already owned a win over CBA on Dec. 2 in the same Peppino’s Invitational where Ludden beat Liverpool.
Yet the Cobras had no answer for the ferocious defense the Gaelic Knights threw at them on the way to a 56-35 victory. The results weren’t obvious right away, but in the second quarter Ludden erased a small deficit by outscoring Grimes 16-2 in that quarter and establishing a lead it would not relinquish.
Eventually, the margin got to 38-20 by the end of the third quarter, with the Gaelic Knights contesting every single possession and keeping the Cobras off the board for long stretches. No Grimes player scored in double figures as Shawn Gashi, Lucci Vigliotti and Jonah Cummings stopped at nine points apiece.
Meanwhile, Adams-Woods drew lots of contact and would record 11 of his 22 points at the free-throw line as Connor again got 10 points. Walser, Keandre Sanders and Monte Johnson had six points apiece.
Back on Thursday night, Westhill hosted Skaneateles, a game that was close for a short while before the overall excellence of the Warriors overwhelmed the Lakers in a 69-33 romp.
At times in seasons past, Skaneateles gave Westhill problems, but not here. A low-scoring first quarter had Skaneateles within three, 13-10, and though the margin widened a bit in the second period, the Lakers were still within one long scoring run of climbing back in it, only trailing 29-18 at the break.
Westhill’s man-to-man pressure took a serious toll, though, and mistakes compounded throughout a second half where the Warriors got big efforts from Dadey, who had 16 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Jackson, who earned 14 points and eight rebounds.
Matukas had five rebounds to go with his nine points as Braeden Elmer put together eight points, seven rebonds and four assists. E.J. Zawadzki had six points. No one on Skaneateles reached double figures, though Jeremy Castle got close, with nine points, as did Justin McClanahan, who had eight points.