That it took six games for someone to beat the Marcellus boys basketball team is something few people expected.
Still, the Mustangs had to feel some disappointment in the wake of last Tuesday night’s 69-63 defeat to Cazenovia, in part because it appeared to have taken control early in the second half, only to lose that grasp when the Lakers contained them for a crucial stretch of the fourth quarter.
Cazenovia had just taken back-to-back defeats to Oneida and Chittenango. Marcellus had a notable advantage in the paint thanks to forwards Nick Femano and Jerrod Gates, and the Lakers knew it had to find success on the perimeter – which it did, right away.
Thomas Bragg and Dan Kent found their range thanks to six 3-pointers in the first half. This more than negated the Mustangs’ advantage in the paint and allowed the visitors to lead for most of the half, Bragg’s 3-pointer extending the margin to 33-28 at the break.
At the start of the third quarter, though, the Mustangs pounded it inside even more, sparking a 19-8 run. Gates benefited most from this plan on his way to a 19-point night, while Nate Kellar did so from the outside on his way to 20 points.
Cazenovia didn’t mind all this because its defense would, for most of the night, frustrate the Mustangs’ leading scorer this season, Tom Fiacchi, holding him to seven points.
More importantly, the Lakers, trailing 47-41, scored the last five points of the third quarter, and that momentum carried over deep into the final period, the defense peaking as the shots started falling again from everywhere during a decisive 19-4 spurt.
Bragg led all scorers with 24 points, finishing with five successful 3-pointers. Kent’s three 3-pointers accounted for half of his 18 points as Hunter Kowaleski hit several late free throws to finish with 12 points.
Now the Mustangs had to find out if it could bounce back from a defeat – which it did, quite emphatically, in Friday night’s game at Homer, dominating the start of each half and rolling to a 64-37 victory over the Warriors.
Sharp on defense at the outset, Marcellus held Hannibal to six points in the first quarter. As if that wasn’t enough, during the third period the Mustangs outscored the Warriors 23-6 to extend its lead to 54-23, allowing the starters to rest in the fourth quarter.
Fiacchi quickly put his Cazenovia struggles behind him, hitting on four 3-pointers and finishing with a steam-high 16 points. Gates got 12 points, while Brendan Shanahan earned six points off the bench. Kellar, Nick Femano and Connor Wixson had five points apiece.
So Marcellus took a 6-1 mark into Tuesday’s game against Homer, its last game before the holiday break.
