Already established as an overwhelming favorite to reclaim the Section III Class B championship following a one-year absence, the Westhill boys basketball team saw the sectional tournament bracket fall its way, too.
The highest seed the state no. 2-ranked Warriors had to face in its first three rounds came in Tuesday’s quarterfinal against no. 9 seed Institute of Technology Central, a game all but decided by a first-quarter stampede on both ends that boosted Westhill to a 77-63 victory over the Eagles.
Though it had beaten ITC twice during the regular season, Westhill did not take the Eagles lightly, especially since it had crushed General Brown 79-30 in the previous round. As such, the first quarter featured the Warriors’ man-to-man defense causing havoc and limiting the visitors to a single field goal.
Meanwhile, plenty of shots fell on the other end, and Westhill, who once trailed 3-2, netted the last 20 points of that quarter. It never got so lopsided again, but the Warriors had the cushion it needed to deal with ITC’s offensive revival that was led by Tr’Von Balaam, who had a game-high 30 points.
Kameren Jackson earned yet another double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds, adding four assists. Antonio Scrimale poured in 17 points, one of his best totals of the season, as Braeden Elmer stepped up, too, with 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. John Geer got 10 points, nine assists, four rebounds and three steals.
As that went on, Skaneateles, the no. 13 seed, went to Buckley Gym and knocked off no. 5 seed Cazenovia 61-49, following up a win over no. 4 seed Sherburne-Earlville. Now the Lakers will seek the biggest upset of all when it meets Westhill Saturday night at Le Moyne College in the sectional semifinals. Tip-off is at 5 p.m.
Marcellus, the no. 6 seed, nearly got to Le Moyne, too, but was denied that chance by no. 3 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, the Mustangs defeated by a 58-57 margin in a thrilling sectional quarterfinal decided in the final seconds.
During the first half, Marcellus had difficulty establishing its attack, but didn’t’ let the Red Devils get away, either, only trailing 28-22 at the break. Then, with hot outside shooting in the third quarter, the Mustangs doubled its point total and inched into a 42-41 lead with one period left.
From there, it was back and forth the rest of the way. Try as it could, the Mustangs simply couldn’t contain VVS star Davey Moffat, who poured in 29 points, many of them in those closing minutes.
Despite this, as the final seconds ticked down, Marcellus only trailed by one, with a chance to get the winning basket.
With 6.4 seconds left, the Mustangs had the ball underneath the Red Devils basket, and worked it to Nate Kellar, who drove from the left side and, inside the paint, took the shot – and Andrew Roden blocked it, the ball squirting loose as the clock hit zero.
VVS advances to face no. 2 seed Chittenango in the other sectional Class B semifinal that follows Westhill’s game with Skaneateles and tips off at 7 p.m.
