Back-to-back defeats late in December to Nottingham and Cicero-North Syracuse had derailed the Baldwinsville boys basketball team’s early push to contend in the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division.

It took going out of league play for the Bees to regroup before 2018 ended as, in the “Hoops for the Hospital” Classic at SRC Arena last Friday night, B’ville ripped past Shaker 75-40.

Still without an injured Jake Marshall in the lineup, the Bees were meeting the same Shaker side that had dropped a close 70-64 decision to C-NS the night before.

More than in any game this season, B’ville put together a total team effort on both ends. Defensively, the Bees held the Blue Bison to a handful of first-half field goals and didn’t let up until it had built a 40-15 halftime advantage.

Meanwhile, on the other end, there was far less dependence on the likes of J.J. Starling, though the B’ville freshman still picked up 21 points, including three 3-pointers. In fact, each of the 10 Bees players that saw action got at least one field goal.

Sunday Joshua worked inside to get 13 points, while Cam Weatherly had 10 points. Bo Nicholson produced seven points and Nate Sprague six points as Eric Casey and Chase Trombley both had five points.

This moved the Bees’ overall record to 5-3, with its SCAC Metro division slate resuming Jan. 8 when it takes on Fayetteville-Manlius in advance of a key test Jan. 11 at Corcoran.