Game after game, the Baldwinsville boys basketball team finds itself in tense contests normally decided by a possession or two, which is fun to watch from the stands, but quite stressful for the participants.
Having just escaped a 65-64 thriller at Fayetteville-Manlius on Jan. 13, the Bees returned home to face Cicero-North Syracuse last Tuesday night, found itself in a tight one again – but could not win it, falling 57-53 to the Northstars.
When the two teams played to a 20-20 draw in a high-flying first quarter, neither side could have anticipated how much the pace would slow down. This hurt B’ville, whose 29-27 halftime lead vanished when C-NS outscored them 16-11 in the third quarter.
Despite great opportunities down the stretch, the Bees could not catch up, wasting a great effort from David Cerqua, whose 22 points included six 3-pointers. Matt Dickman added 13 points, with Chris Taylor getting six points from a pair of 3-pointers.
C-NS saw Lukas Merluzzi achieve a double-double, finishing the night with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Jaysaun Gunn played well in the latter stages and finished with 13 points as Chris Stowell got 12 points, three rebounds and three assists, and Lorezno Thompson had nine rebounds to go with six points.
After all this, B’ville would host Liverpool Friday, attempting to avenge a Dec. 20 road defeat the Warriors and keep them from going into Tuesday’s first-place CNY Counties League showdown with West Genesee sporting a perfect league mark.
And it almost happened as, once more, B’ville pulled within inches of a season-defining victory, only to get denied by Liverpool’s late comeback in a 56-54 defeat.
The pace was unlike what both teams expected, yet it hurt the Bees more in the early going as the Warriors, through a strong second-quarter push, got a 30-22 lead. But in the third period B’ville caught fire from the field, outscoring Liverpool 23-9 in those eight minutes.
As the fourth quarter started, the Bees owned a 45-39 lead, but just as quickly as it broke out, it went quiet, giving the Warriors time to regroup and, outscoring the Bees by a 17-9 margin the rest of the way, pull it out, Charles Pride leading the visitors as he scored 23 points overall.
Gabe Horan stepped up, leading B’ville with 15 points. Taylor and Jake Marshall got 12 points apiece, while Casey Pluff got eight points. Cerqua was held to five points and made just one 3-pointer all night.
Those two losses by a combined six points sank B’ville’s record to 6-6 going into Monday’s game at Nottingham. The Bees also take on Oswego Wednesday and Henninger Friday, knowing two wins in this three-game stretch would lock up a Section III Class AA playoff berth.
