Exactly one week after the West Genesee boys basketball team suffered its first defeat at Liverpool, and exactly one week before those same two teams clashed again in Camillus, things were square again for the Wildcats.
Not only had Jack Bova returned from the ankle sprain that caused him to miss the Jan. 24 defeat to the Warriors, WG found itself again tied for first in the CNY Counties League in the wake of last Tuesday’s turn of events.
At home, WG claimed another close battle with Nottingham, 75-72, but while that was going on, Liverpool, who had jumped to no. 13 in the state Class AA rankings, two spots ahead of the Wildcats, were surprised at home in a 56-48 loss to Henninger.
With no idea about what was going on at Liverpool, WG would find, again, that Nottingham could cause them problems. Four weeks earlier, the Wildcats had pulled out a 79-75 decision on the Bulldogs’ home floor, and it proved no different in Camillus.
Nottingham kept the lead for most of the first half. Trailing 34-29 at the break, the Wildcats turned it around in a big way during the third quarter, nearly doubling its point total and grabbing a 56-51 advantage, one it would cling to the rest of the game.
In what could be his last game against the team he once played for, Malik Zachery finished with 30 points, but with the Bulldogs holding Bova to five points, someone else needed to step up – and it was Nate Phililps, pouring in 20 points as Lucas Sutherland got eight points. Nottingham lost despite Jevon Jones earning17 points), Jakair Sanchez getting 15 points and Malcolm Nelson adding 14 points.
On Friday night, WG would host Baldwinsville, a team it also beat four weeks earlier on the road, but by a more comfortable 85-70 margin, trying hard not to look ahead to what was shaping up as another first-place showdown with Liverpool.
B’ville made sure that didn’t take place, keeping the matter suspenseful all the way to the final minute before the Wildcats could escape with a 62-57 victory.
Starting out well on the defensive side, WG limited the Bees to seven points in the first quarter. Still, it couldn’t draw clear as the Bees moved within three, 29-26, by halftime and would keep it close the rest of the way.
With barely two minutes left, the Wildcats and Bees were tied, 55-55, largely because B’ville kept hitting from outside, David Cerqua sinking three 3-pointers on his way to 17 points and Chris Taylor connecting four times beyond the arc and finishing with 15 points.
Yet just when it was needed, WG got some clutch baskets and closed on a 7-2 run. Mostly, Zachery, with 23 points, and Bova, with 16 points, led the charge, though Sutherland added nine points and Marcus Hudgins got six points.
As that went on, Liverpool put away Cicero-North Syracuse 62-36, so the Warriors and Wildcats would go into Tuesday night even in the standings. Regardless of the result, though, WG still had to face Henninger on Friday and Bishop Kearney on Saturday in Rochester as part of a tough final full week of the regular season.
