Primed to go again after a narrow sectional Class B quarterfinal defeat to Vernon-Verona-Sherrill a year ago, the Marcellus boys basketball team beat both of its opening-week opponents.
It started last Tuesday with the Mustangs handling Hannibal 72-43. Marcellus held the Warriors without a field goal in a 20-1 first-quarter drubbing that all but decided the outcome.
No Hannibal player reached double figures, which three Mustangs did as Ben Fedorenko had 17 points, Grayson Hoag had 14 points (including four 3-pointers) and Connor Rogalia added 11 points. Luke Ingianni, with nine points, was close behind.
On a busy Friday night, Marcellus moved to 2-0 by toppling East Syracuse Minoa 54-45. Ignoring the Spartans’ Class A status, the Mustangs steadily built a 31-21 halftime lead and, when ESM got closer, clamped down, holding them to nine points in the fourth quarter.
Fedorenko, with 14 points, led a well-balanced attack. Sam Grattan stepped up with 12 points as Hoag added nine points and Conner Wixson six points. ESM’s Dennis Benjack led both sides with 23 points.
As for Jordan-Elbridge, who opened last Tuesday night against Cazenovia, it could never get its offense going in a 58-42 loss to Cazenovia, unable to score more than 11 points in any single quarter.
Helped by 20 points from Drew Johnson, the Lakers built most of its margin after halftime, overcoming 21 points from the Eagles’ Jeremiah Sparks. Dakota Holbrook had nine points, with Aidan Carpenter adding eight points.
J-E got into the win column on Friday, beating Mexico 65-52 in large part because it started well. The Eagles jumped out to a 17-9 lead on the Tigers by the end of the first quarter.
The rest of the game turned into a futile chase, Mexico keeping J-E in sight, but not catching up as Sparks again sparked his team, pouring in 21 points. Holbrook nearly doubled his Cazenovia total, earning 17 points, while Carpenter got 12 points. Buddy Ruby (17 points) and Marcus Touro (16 points) accounted for most of the Tigers’ production.
Solvay struggled in its season opener, a 61-31 defeat to Homer that was close until the Trojans outscored the Bearcats 22-4 in the third quarter. Robby Clark had nine points to lead Solvay as Stephen Walter paced Homer, earning 22 points.
