Even as it worked its way to a 6-1 start, the East Syracuse Minoa boys basketball team knew that plenty of steps remained before it could firmly plant itself among the major Section III Class A title contenders.
The amount of work still ahead for the Spartans was made plain Thursday night, at Central Square, where it fell victim to a career-best performance by Tom Giblin in a 65-52 defeat to the Redhawks.
Central Square, new to the Class A ranks this winter, reached the sectional semifinals in Class AA last winter, and had started 4-0 this season, though it hadn’t faced anyone of ESM’s quality yet.
The importance of this game was reflected in the large Central Square student section, who in the tradition of Indiana’s Taylor University remained quiet until scoring its 10th point, which Giblin got with a 3-pointer midway through the first quarter. Then the students roared, and stayed loud the rest of the night.
Though the Spartans did an effective job inside and got the Redhawks’ forwards into foul trouble, it could do nothing to contain Giblin, who had 17 points by halftime as Central Square, who never trailed, led 34-26 at the break.
Any chance ESM had dissipated in the third quarter, where a combination of cold shooting and conversions on the other end led to a 14-2 Central Square run.
Not until the final minutes did the Spartans see some 3-pointers fall as Devin Mascato-Buffaloe finished with 16 points. Nick Peterson, despite constant defensive attention, managed 14 points as Dennis Benjack got eight points.
The night belonged to GIblin, though, as he finished with 33 points, more than half the Redhawks’ total. Slade Springer pulled down 16 rebounds to go with his nine points.
Also on Thursday night, Manlius-Pebble Hill hosted Pulaski and surrendered a big fourth-quarter lead, but recovered to beat the Blue Devils 63-61 in overtime.
It was Kendale Thompson bringing the Trojans back, scoring most of his 41 points in the second and third quarters to help erase an early 14-9 deficit.
Yet MPH’s 48-35 lead did not hold, either, as Pulaski outscored them 22-9 in the final period to catch up, led by Rian Leaf, who finished the night with 24 points.
Regulation ended 57-57, and in OT both sides struggled for baskets – but MPH inched in front and stayed there. It was Grant Lewis helping Thompson the most, as he earned 11 points.
Bishop Grimes hosted Syracuse Academy of Science and lost, 56-55, to the Atoms, who rallied from a 32-26 halftime deficit with a defense that contained the Cobras for long stretches of the last two quarters.
David Mo had 14 points and Nate Gay 13 points for Grimes as T.J. Bradford got eight points, with Jack Gutchess and Gop Arop earning six points apiece. SAS got 15 points from Anthony Butera and 14 points from Owyn Blue.
Moving to Friday, Jamesville-DeWitt and Christian Brothers Academy both recorded impressive victories before appearing together in next weekend’s Bottar-Leone Holiday Classic.
The undefeated Red Rams moved to 8-0 by handling Cortland 78-46, steadily building a double-digit advantage and then pummeling the Purple Tigers with a 29-7 outburst in the third quarter.
Teleak Robinson led with 18 points, while Payton Shumpert hit five 3-pointers on his way to 17 points overall. Matt Cieplicki had 15 points as Max Schulman contributed 11 points.
Then there was CBA’s game at Westhill, a far different matter where defense helped carry the Brothers to a 49-43 victory over the two-time defending sectional Class B champion Warriors.
Steady in the first half on both ends, CBA built a 33-22 advantage, and its defense allowed it to withstand a third-quarter slump where it got held to four points, yet stayed in front, the Brothers most effective on Westhill’s leading scorer, Zach Brown as they held him to seven points for the night.
Even though the production was modest, it was spread around well as Nick Valenti and Ryan McKenna had 11 points apiece, with Aaron Clendenin adding 10 points. Dan Anderson (eight points) and Jason Boule (seven points) were close behind.
This stretch ended on Saturday when Bishop Grimes, rebounding from the loss to SAS, romped past Utica-Notre Dame 68-37, avenging its loss to the Jugglers in last March’s Section III Class A final at the Carrier Dome.
The Cobras held UND to four points in the first quarter, led 33-12 by halftime and never let up, Mo again scoring 14 points to lead a well-balanced attack as Bradford had 13 points, Arop added 11 points and Gay had 10 points.
