Again, the Christian Brothers Academy boys basketball team had to proceed following a defeat in the continuing ‘Holy War’ against Bishop Ludden.
During their Jan. 14 encounter in the Pathfinder Bank Zebra Classic at Le Moyne College, the Brothers fell victim to a long mid-game drought and, despite its best efforts, could not recover from it, taking a 53-41 defeat to the Gaelic Knights.
Back in January 2009, Ludden and CBA met at Le Moyne, and the Gaelic Knights were shut out in the first quarter on the way to another defeat at a time where the Brothers dominated the ‘Holy War’.
If there is such a thing as getting even with an entirely different roster eight years later, Ludden did so, erasing CBA’s 17-14 second-quarter lead in the most emphatic way possible while wearing throwback brown-and-white jerseys from St. Anthony’s as CBA donned red-and-white St. Vincent’s jerseys as part of the Zebra Classic’s annual salute to the Parochial League.
First, the Gaelic Knights cranked up its defense, not allowing a point for the rest of the first half (the Brothers missed eight straight shots) as it took a 30-24 lead. Then Ludden extended CBA’s drought through the first four minutes of the third quarter.
By then, Ludden had registered 24 unanswered points to take a 38-17 lead. While the Brothers whittled the margin down to 11 in the fourth quarter and the Gaelic Knights struggled late at the free-throw line, the outcome was settled.
Mika Adams-Woods again paced Ludden, earning 21 points. Joe Connor added 11 points, with eighth-grader Jai Smith adding 12 rebounds to go with six points. Nic Button had seven points and Ed Walser got six points. On CBA’s side, Kevin Underwood had 17 points and Dan Damico got 14 points.
East Syracuse Minoa prevailed earlier that day when it honored its new Athletic Hall of Fame Class and, on the court, routed Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 77-43.
Steadily, the Spartans built a 39-25 lead on the Rebels, and then went on a 23-9 spurt through the third quarter to get away. Kevin Richardson led ESM with 25 points, while Gabe Holloman poured in 19 points, Colton Cwikla and Joe Burry each added nine points as Dennis Benjack gained six points.
Then the Spartans went to the other end of the spectrum last Tuesday in a 115-65 defeat to Syracuse Academy of Science, a game where ESM allowed 67 points in the second half alone.
This wasted a tremendous night from Holloman, who poured in a career-best 33 points as Richardson got 12 points, Benjack seven points and Adam Caramanna nine points. SAS saw Kenyang Lual earn 32 points and 12 rebounds as Symir Torrence nearly got a triple-double with 25 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds. Nessiah Smith had 15 points, six assists and six rebounds as TraeVontate Tape got 18 points.
ESM lost at home Friday to Mexico 59-33, held in check most of the way as the Tigers outscored them 37-14 in the second and third quarters. Other than Ciwkla, who had 16 points, no other Spartan had more than one field goal as Dakota Deasy led Mexico with 20 points.
As a follow-up to the loss to Ludden, CBA defeated Fowler 77-53 last Tuesday night, taking over in the middle stages as it outscored the Falcons 43-21 in the second and third quarters to get clear.
Underwood and Damico both had double-doubles, Underwood gaining 28 points and 11 rebounds as Damico chimed in with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Freshman Peyton Shumpert added 10 points and Hilan Gupta got six points. Deamore Francis led Fowler with 17 points.
Back above the .500 mark (6-5), CBA played back-to-back games and built on that mark, starting Thursday with a 67-41 win over Cortland where the Purple Tigers were held to less than 10 points in both of the first two quarters.
This gave the Brothers ample time to build a big margin – which it did, led by Underwood, whose 25 points included three 3-pointers. Shumpert chimed in with 12 points and Damico added 11 points as Gupta again had six points.
A third win in four nights came Friday, when the Brothers topped Oswego 58-41. CBA’s defense led the way as a 25-15 lead was built by halftime and kept growing late behind 25 points from a red-hot Underwood, with Shumpert continuing to assert himself thanks to 15 points. Clay Jarvis added seven points.
