More than anything else, the Baldwinsville boys basketball team wanted to enter the last full week of the regular season not having to worry about still securing a Section III Class AA playoff berth.
It could get done if the Bees won at home against Corcoran last Tuesday night, and the game proved close from start to finish – but it was the Cougars who would hang on at the end and prevail by a 62-56 margin.
Back on Jan. 3, B’ville had won at Corcoran, 62-53. Four weeks later, the Cougars would get even, overcoming a small early deficit to gain a 38-33 halftime lead and then, for the rest of the night, answering every time the Bees tried to catch up.
This happened even though B’ville’s inside-outside game was working. Gabe Horan was strong in the paint, earning 18 points, while David Cerqua earned all of his 12 points from four 3-pointers and Jake Marshall also had 12 points.
No one else had more than five points, though, and Corcoran had a well-balanced attack. Ryan Kisselstein, with 14 points, was one of four Cougars to score in double figures, joined by Jahaad Henry, Dalmarr Miller (11 points each) and Tyrice Williams (10 points).
B’ville would face a big challenge Friday when it visited West Genesee, who stood at 14-1 and tied for first in the CNY Counties League with Liverpool. The Bees had lost at home to the Wildcats 85-70 in their first encounter on Jan. 6.
Here, though, B’ville gave itself a great chance to snare that playoff-clinching eighth win and throw a wrench into the league race before things got away in the final minutes of a 62-57 defeat.
The Bees were cold early, limited to seven points in the first quarter. Still, WG couldn’t draw clear as B’ville started hitting outside shots and moved within three, 29-26, by halftime and would keep it close the rest of the way.
With barely two minutes left, B’ville and WG were tied, 55-55, largely because the Bees kept hitting from outside, 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. Brandon Mimas added six points, with Marshall and Alec Williams getting five points apiece.
Yet just when it was needed, WG got some clutch baskets and closed on a 7-2 run. Mostly, Zachery, with 23 points, and Jack Bova, with 16 points, led the charge, though Lucas Sutherland added nine points and Marcus Hudgins got six points.
Since its league record had fallen to 3-8, B’ville would likely need its overall record to get into the playoffs. At 7-10, three more chances remain for that clinching eighth win, two of them at home this week against Nottingham and Fayetteville-Manlius, and another on Feb. 14 at Cicero-North Syracuse.
