The 2018 edition of the boys basketball Section III Class AA playoffs will not have Fayetteville-Manlius or Christian Brothers Academy as a part of it.
For the Brothers, the elimination came in the most painful way possible thanks to a 53-51, overtime defeat to “Holy War” rival Bishop Ludden last Tuesday night decided on Jai Smith’s putback basket at the OT buzzer.
One last time, coaches Pat Donnelly (Ludden) and Buddy Wleklinski (CBA) stalked the same sidelines.
For more than three decades, Donnelly and Wleklinski, coaching rivals and longtime friends, have squared off at their respective alma maters. In 52 head-to-head meetings, they had, remarkably, won 26 times each.
This had a chance to be the final encounter because CBA, at 5-12, had to win this game or face post-season elimination. With that urgency, the Brothers made things as difficult as possible for the Gaelic Knights.
Mostly, this had to do with the tempo. CBA worked down the shot clock on most of its possessions, keeping the Gaelic Knights frustrated.
Though Ludden led 23-10 at halftime and by as much as six in the third quarter, the Brothers’ patience led to production and a lead early in the final period thanks to Sean Miller’s 3-pointer.
At one point, the Gaelic Knights trailed 44-40, but after an Avion Othman 3-pointer beat the shot clock, CBA didn’t score again in regulation. A basket cut the Ludden deficit to two and Joe Connor’s driving lay-up pulled things even, 44-44, with under a minute left.
They stayed that way into the four-minute OT, and didn’t separate in the extra frame, either. Ludden’s 51-48 lead vanished when, with 46 second left, the Brothers’ Will Mackenzie sank a tying 3-pointer.
Empty possessions on both ends led to Miller getting fouled with 8.8 seconds left. It was still a one-and-one foul situation, and Miller missed the front end.
Grabbing the rebound, Ludden worked it around to Connor, whose shot was off target – but Smith got his hands on it and converted just as time ran out.
For the night, Smith had 11 points as Sh’ikem Lee led the Gaelic Knights with 15 points. Connor had eight points as Ed Walser and Nic Button got seven points apiece. Othman, Mackenzie and SirVocea Dennis paced CBA with 11 points apiece.
F-M found itself the guests of undefeated, state Class AA no. 4-ranked Liverpool on the Warriors’ Senior Night, a tough situation it could not overcome despite a strong second half in a 77-64 defeat to the Warriors.
Routed 72-41 at home by Liverpool a month earlier, the Hornets responded well to a rough first half in the rematch, actually outscoring the Warriors 48-38 during the last two periods.
A dormant F-M attack briefly came to life as Khai Pugh got a game-high 20 points, with Chris Lubrino adding 11 points. Cade Collum and Tyler Schneider had 10 points apiece.
Nas Johnson led Liverpool with 17 points, followed closely by Noah Issakainen, whose 15 points included three 3-pointers. Alan Willmes Jr. (12 points) and Peter Cerrone (10 points) also reached double figures.
That defeat took F-M out of post-season consideration, but it still had two games left, hosting West Genesee on Friday and dropping a 61-46 decision to the Wildcats as no Hornets player scored in double figures.
But when F-M hosted Baldwinsville on Saturday with a chance to play spoiler to the Bees’ own post-season hopes, the Hornets relished this new role.
F-M defeated the Bees 70-67, avenging a lopsided 67-40 B’ville win less than three weeks earlier. Steadily, the Hornets gained a 32-24 lead by halftime, and answered every single time the Bees tried to catch up.
What’s more, its offense was spread around. Pugh earned 11 of his 20 points at the free-throw line, with Alex Bychkov and Brad Procita each getting 12 points and TylerSchneider adding 10 points. B’ville had Jacob Marshall pour in 25 points and J.J. Starling add 17 points, but no one else on the Bees’ squad had more than two field goals.
CBA, meanwhile, did win last Friday at Syracuse Academy of Science, a 55-51 decision where Othman led with 16 points, while Aaron Clendenin had 11 points and Dennis had 10 points as Malcolm Jackson got nine points.
