It seems that, each season, the question of whether the Baldwinsville boys basketball team gets into the Section III Class AA playoffs is not answered until the final games of the regular season.
So it was again this winter, with the Bees starting last week two wins short of the eight it needed to automatically get into the sectional tournament, but earning one of those necessary wins in the most dramatic way possible.
Visiting Cicero-North Syracuse last Tuesday night, the Bees were in big trouble going into the fourth quarter, but played its best eight minutes of the season, given the circumstances, to stun the Northstars 70-67.
While it was true that C-NS was struggling with a 3-7 mark since starting 8-0, it had won 71-63 at B’ville a month earlier, and were poised for a sweep thanks to a big third quarter where it overcome the Bees’ 31-30 halftime lead.
Finding itself down 57-43, B’ville may have saved its season in the final period, getting hot from the field as the duo of Jake Marshall and J.J. Sterling led a 26-10 charge that snatched the victory.
All told, Marshall had 24 points, half of it from four 3-pointers, while Starling connected for 16 points. Sunday Joshua and Maxwell Dec had eight points apiece as Casey Pluff finished with six points.
C-NS, in defeat, got 20 points from Jaysaun Gunn, with Omar Mere (12 points) and A.J. Forney (11 points) also getting into double figures. Justin DelVecchio had seven points as Riley Hogan and Lukas Merluzzi had six points apiece.
Given that its next game was against 18-0, state Class AA no. 4-ranked Liverpool on Friday, the Bees thought it could relax a bit, knowing that, as long as it beat Fayetteville-Manlius or West Genesee in the remaining two games, a playoff berth was safe.
And B’ville would stay close for a while before taking an 85-70 defeat to the Warriors, who had one of its top players, Charles Pride, back in the lineup after missing nearly a month with an ankle injury.
Pride only had four points, but Nas Johnson got 28 points and Alan Willmes Jr. added 24 points to help Liverpool get away after only leading 36-30 at halftime. Starling had 24 points, including five 3-pointers, as Joshua gained 16 points and Marshall had 13 points. Alec Williams finished with eight points.
So now it hinged on B’ville bouncing back on Saturday afternoon and winning at Fayetteville-Manlius. Win that, and the Bees wouldn’t have to beat red-hot West Genesee Monday to prolong its season.
But the Hornets, out of post-season contention and playing for the last time this winter, embraced its spoiler role and, playing with a playoff-like fervor, topped the Bees 70-67, avenging a lopsided 67-40 B’ville win less than three weeks earlier.
An uneven start proved quite costly for the Bees, who found itself trailing 32-24 at halftime and would spend the entire second half trying to catch up.
Marshall poured in 25 points and Startling had 17 points, but no one else on the Bees’ squad had more than two field goals. F-M spread things around a bit more as Khai Pugh earned 11 of his 20 points at the free-throw line, with Alex Bychkov and Brad Procita each adding 12 points as Tyler Schneider gained 10 points.
