Whether the Baldwinsville boys basketball team finds its way to the top of the CNY Counties League is far from settled, but the first week of league games offered a mixed response.
When things don’t go well, as in an 81-52 defeat to Liverpool last Tuesday night, the Bees could struggle against any opponent, regardless of its quality.
However, when things click, B’ville can, at the very least, make even the best opponents worry, as it did Thursday night when it downed 13 3-point shots, six of them by David Cerqua, and complemented it with an aggressive inside game to defeat perennial power Henninger 79-66 at the Baker High School gym.
Other than the game’s opening minutes, the Bees never trailed against the Black Knights, a team that, two nights earlier, recorded an impressive 62-46 road win at Cicero-North Syracuse just as B’ville was getting flattened at Liverpool.
Cerqua provided the Bees’ spark, the point guard stinging Henninger with both his dribbling skills and his high-arcing 3-point shots, three of which swished in the first half.
Late in the second quarter, B’ville went on a 10-2 run, providing the margin for a 35-27 halftime lead. Four more 3-pointers fell for the Bees in the third quarter as the lead grew to 51-37.
Desperate to get back in it, Henninger notched a 10-0 run of its own late in the third period and still were within seven, 61-54, with less than six minutes to play.
By now, though, the Black Knights were so concerned about B’ville’s red-hot outside shooting that Gabe Horan was getting open looks inside, and Horan’s six consecutive points restored the double-digit margin midway through the fourth quarter. Henninger would not get close again.
A string of free throws would run Cerqua’s total to a career-best 25 points. Horan was close behind, earning 20 points before fouling out as Casey Pluff and Chris Taylor both hit three 3-pointers, Pluff finishing with 13 points and Taylor getting 11 points. Djuhardin Solo led Henninger with 18 points.
Two nights earlier, at Liverpool, it proved rough from the outset, The Warriors were 0-3, and had just suffered close back-to-back defeats to University Prep and Bishop Kearney in Rochester. Those losses were still fresh in the Warriors’ mind, and it took out some frustration on B’ville.
Overwhelmed from the outset, the Bees found itself trailing 41-18 at halftime, and all it could do the rest of the way was keeping it from getting too lopsided while still working on its own strengths and weaknesses.
Cerqua, hinting at what he would do against Henninger, picked up 15 points from sinking five 3-pointers. Nate Johns got 10 points, while Brandon Mimas earned eight points.
All 14 Liverpool players that saw action got at least one point as Charles Pride, with 19 points, led that push, while Naz Johnson had nine points. Noah Issakainen had eight points, as did Alan Willmes, with Devan Mederios, Cooper Chaffee, Jonah Harder and Peter Cerrone getting five points apiece.
B’ville, who improved its record to 3-1 by toppling Henninger, will test itself Wednesday and Thursday in the Hilton Tournament near Rochester, facing Greece Athena in the opening round. League play resumes Jan. 3 at Corcoran.
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