Reputation and past success are common factors in determining rankings of all types, and high school boys basketball is no different.
Westhill, with the gleam of recent back-to-back state championships still present, parlayed a 4-0 start into a no. 6 spot in the first state Class B rankings of the season.
And the Warriors would make it five wins in a row last Tuesday night, when it hosted Institute of Technology Central and did most of its damage in the first half on the way to defeating the Eagles 78-66.
That final score did not reflect how lopsided things were in the first half. Combining a high-powered attack with some of the best man-to-man defense it had played this winter, Westhill led 22-6 after one period and stretched the margin to 39-16 by halftime.
That margin continued to grow until the Warriors’ starters sat in the fourth quarter. Before that, though, Kamren Jackson amassed 25 points and 14 rebounds, with Sean Dadey just as good as he got 19 points, eight assists, four steals and five rebounds.
Helping out, Holden Carroll got 11 points and five rebounds, while Owen Matukas had nine points and four rebounds. Tr’von Balaam helped ITC stage a furious late comeback and finished with 29 points as Iquail Daniel added 14 points.
Two nights later, Westhill was set to visit Henninger, who had seen long-time head coach Erik Saroney leave after last season to take the head coaching job at Onondaga Community College, where is Lazers are off to a perfect 11-0 start.
Now, with Gil Speights at the helm, the Black Knights had split its first two games, falling to Horseheads in overtime but then defeating Rome Free Academy. Henninger was eager to test Westhill – but never got the chance, since the game was snowed out.
Those same state rankings had Bishop Ludden parked at no. 12 in Class AA, the best of any Section III side. The Gaelic Knights were off last week, but would return Tuesday for its home opener against East Syracuse Minoa before a Friday visit to Homer.
And before all that, on Monday night, Westhill would have a showdown with Jamesville-DeWitt, starting a big stretch where the Warriors also host Utica-Notre Dame Thursday and then go to the Dec. 29-30 Bottar-Leone Holiday Classic at Christian Brothers Academy, where it meets Cicero-North Syracuse in the opening round.
