For the second time in as many weeks, the Westhill boys basketball team charged down the stretch against undefeated Jamesville-DeWitt.
Only this time, that charge resulted in a victory – one that, by a 64-48 margin, secured for the state Class B no. 9-ranked Warriors the championship of the 30th annual Bottar-Leone Holiday Classic Friday night at Christian Brothers Academy.
Every Westhill player wanted a second shot at J-D after it took its lone blemish of the season Dec. 19, having frantically rallied in that game in the final minutes, only to go to overtime and take a 73-63 defeat after one of its top players, Kameren Jackson, fouled out.
Just 11 days later, the rematch came about, a result of Thursday night’s opening round where J-D staged yet another late rally to beat host CBA 67-62 and Westhill had bashed Cicero-North Syracuse 67-44.
The final started with Westhill’s tight man-to-man defense causing all kinds of problems while it built a 14-9 lead. That margin vanished when J-D scored the first eight points of the second quarter, but the Warriors recovered and, helped by nine points apiece from Jackson and Sean Dadey, went back in front, 28-26, by halftime.
Even as things stayed close in the third quarter, it was quickly apparent that J-D was depending too much on its two leading scorers, Buddy Boeheim and Darvin Lovette.
Boeheim would finish with 20 points and Lovette added 18 points, but the Warriors held the rest of the J-D roster to just four combined field goals, and that lack of depth would take a toll on the Rams after the all-out effort it gave against CBA.
Key baskets by Dadey, Jackson and Geer helped extend Westhill’s lead in the fourth quarter, and back-to-back 3-pointers by Owen Matukas sealed it.
Jackson finished with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Dadey, who amassed 12 assists, and Matukas each had 15 points and Geer contributed 13 points. Matukas also had five rebounds and three assists.
All of this followed a first-round game against C-NS where the Warriors, for the most part, played poorly in the first half. Only Dadey’s 12 points kept things close as Westhill was within three, 23-20, at the break.
Then everything broke apart for the Northstars in the third quarter. The Warriors’ defensive pressure led to lots of turnover and empty possessions, while Dadey and Jackson led the way as Westhill outscored C-NS 23-4 in that period and never got caught.
Dadey finished with 26 points, adding six rebounds and three assists. Jackson put together 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists, with Antonio Scrimale contributing 10 points, six assists and five rebounds. Matukas has eight points and Geer six points as Holden Carroll contributed six rebounds.
