Following a 1-3 start, the Baldwinsville boys basketball team had a chance to climb above the .500 mark in time for 2018 if it could win its division at last week’s Hoops for the Hospital Holiday Classic.
The annual fund-raiser for the Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital included several different boys and girls divisions, but the Bees were pooled with Ithaca, Bishop Grimes and Auburn.
In last Wednesday night’s opening round, B’ville (who had its Dec. 22 game with West Genesee snowed out) hosted Ithaca, and it went to the wire before the Bees held off the Little Red 78-75.
Throughout the first half, B’ville had little trouble solving Ithaca’s defense, steadily gaining a 40-28 lead. That cushion was needed since the Little Red chipped away at that margin throughout the second half.
To hang on, the Bees needed Jon Starling to hit a clutch 3-pointer in the waning seconds. Starling finished with 17 points, just behind Casey Pluff, who hit five 3-pointers on his way to 23 points overall.
Jacob Marshall and Eric Casey each connected twice beyond the arc as Marshall got 16 points and Casey finished with 10 points.
Bishop Grimes defeated Auburn 83-69, so Thursday’s’ final at SRC Arena pitted the Cobras against B’ville, who nearly pulled off a fourth-quarter miracle before taking a 55-53 defeat.
Neither team made a sustained run in the first half. Trailing 26-24 at the break, B’ville saw Grimes dominate the third quarter, outscoring them 24-10, yet it wasn’t over.
As the Cobras went cold in the final period, B’ville chipped away, led by Starling, who got 19 points, and Pluff, who put up 16 points as Sunday Joshua produced 10 points.
Though B’ville got within a field goal, it could not quite catch up, Grimes hanging on as T.J. Bradford (17 points), Tong Mading (15 points) and David Mo (12 points) paced the Cobras.
So the Bees would take a 3-4 record into 2018, where on Wednesday it starts the new year at Nottingham before returning home Friday to face Fayetteville-Manlius.
