When the Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville-DeWitt boys basketball teams gathered last Friday night, it was for more than just a battle for neighborhood bragging rights.
The game was a “Hoops for Courage” fund-raiser for Camp Good Days and Special Times, a charity that gives kids with cancer a chance to enjoy summer camps.
Many of those kids were in attendance for the game, and they saw a good one as the Hornets, claiming its third consecutive victory, held off the Red Rams 51-47.
It was in the middle stages that F-M went out in front, erasing J-D’s 12-9 first-quarter lead. By the time they reached the fourth quarter, the Hornets had a 40-31 edge, and would need it to withstand a late Rams push.
Along with consistent defense that held Payton Shumpert without a field goal, F-M also distributed the production well, Alex Bychkov and Nick Papa each earning 11 points as Tyler Schneider had 10 points, Brad Procita seven points and Chris Lubrino six points.
J-D’s Matt Cieplicki led all scorers with 15 points, hitting on three 3-pointers. Max Schulman had 10 points, with Luke Smith and Takuya LaClair each earning seven points and Marcus Johnson getting six points. Payt
Already, it had proven an eventful season, from F-M’s 20-point comeback and Khai Pugh’s last-second shot to beat Rome Free Academy to J-D getting upended last Tuesday in a 60-55 defeat to Nottingham.
When they were in the same class decades ago, J-D and Nottingham had a fierce rivalry, and their descendants continued it, the Rams rallying from an early deficit to lead 30-27 at halftime, but unable to hold on.
The Bulldogs outscored J-D 23-14 in the fourth quarter, led by Jakair Sanchez, who poured in 21 points, and Argjend Imeri, who had 16 points.
No one on the Rams could match those totals, though Johnson and Teleak Robinson had 12 points apiece, with Shumpert (10 points), Schulman (nine points) and LaClair (seven points) close behind.
J-D wasn’t the only local side in search of some form. Christian Brothers Academy was 0-2 going into last Friday’s game at Cicero-North Syracuse and fell again in a 52-36 defeat to the Northstars.
The Brothers scored the game’s first seven points, but from there its offense could find little success, though it led until Justin DelVecchio’s putback basket at the second-quarter horn gave C-NS a 22-20 edge at the break.
In a stretch that bridged the third and fourth quarters, CBA went more than six minutes without a point, from which it could not recover. In defeat, SirVocea Dennis had 15 points, with Avion Othman and Aaron Clendenin getting seven points apiece as Jaysaun Gunn paced the Northstars with 17 points.
Early-season struggles for Bishop Grimes continued in last Wednesday’s 76-51 defeat to Utica-Notre Dame, a result mostly borne out of the Jugglers jumping out to a 22-5 first-quarter lead on the Cobras.
Grimes played better from there, David Mo getting 11 points as Jack Gutchess and Jay Gifford earned eight points apiece. David Cifonelli had seven points and Gus O’Connell six points as UND got 24 points from Dante Griffin and 16 points from Jaylen Warmack.
Now the Cobras went to the Davidson Auto Invitational at Rome Free Academy, where it lost in overtime to Edwards-Knox (Section X) 93-88 in overtime.
Trailing 62-56 through three quarters, Grimes outscored the Cougars 23-17 in the final period to get it to OT, but saw Edwards-Knox get back in front and stay there, overcoming 30 points by T.J. Bradford, which included 14 successful free throws. Gutchess had 10 points, with Nick Davis getting nine points.O’Connell and Skyler Gashi had eight points apiece and Mo had seven points.
Manlius-Pebble Hill lost, 104-53, to Weedsport last Wednesday, the Warriors getting five players to score in double figures led by Jake O’Connor (18 points) as Stew Falso had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Trojans, with Dan Mezzalingua adding 15 points.
A 66-34 defeat t Pulaski followed on Friday night, the Blue Devils leading 41-11 by halftime as Rian Leaf got 30 points to lead them. All of Mezzalingua’s 15 points came from three 3-pointers, with Falso getting 11 points and Nate Sonnenfeld adding six points.
