Maybe the worst thing that could have happened to the Solvay basketball team was the hiatus it took during the holiday break.
Prior to it, the Bearcats were 7-2, gaining momentum thanks to a Dec. 21 win over Jordan-Elbridge, and shared first place in the OHSL Liberty American with Mexico.
Then two weeks passed, and when Solvay returned to action last Friday against Marcellus, the Bearcats did not have the same sharpness on both ends, and taking full advantage of this, the Mustangs got a 65-62 victory.
Only 2-5 going into this game, Marcellus traded baskets with Solvay throughout the first half and emerged from it tied, 37-37. Then the Mustangs went out in front in the third quarter, holding the Bearcats to eight points.
Hanging on late, Marcellus saw Luke Ingianni hit three 3-pointers on his way to 17 points overall. Matt Kershaw contributed 15 points, with Jared Sammon getting 13 points and Tristan Jarvi adding nine points. Kyle Brown contributed six points.
To lead Solvay, McKyle Sands got 16 points, with Justin Scott getting 14 points and Brock Bagozzi 10 points. Each of them hit on three 3-pointers as Elijah Wright contributed eight points.
As that went on, Jordan-Elbridge returned from its holiday break by facing Chittenango, and relied again on the big production of Jeremiah Sparks to put away the Bears 73-49.
Sparks got going early, pushing the Eagles to a 24-10 edge by the end of the first quarter, and then the defense kicked in after halftime, J- holding Chittenango in check as it used a 20-5 run to get away.
By the time it was done, Sparks had poured in 36 points, with Mitch Holt getting 11 points. Dakota Holbrook had seven points, with L.J. Barrigar, in his first game action this season, matching Deacon Hill’s total of six points. Paul Wood had 27 points for the Bears.
Westhill, off during the holiday break, returned to action last Thursday and routed Hannibal 72-21, with Zach Brown outscoring the opposition by himself thanks to 27 points as Charlie Bolesh and Liam Sanborn had nine points apiece and Dan Washburn got eight points.
And in its first game of 2019, Bishop Ludden made a stirring fourth-quarter comeback to beat St. Francis Prep 55-52 in one of four games played in Sunday’s “Thruway Classic” at Christian Brothers Academy.
This was one of four games played between local private-school teams and those from the Buffalo area, with Syracuse Academy of Science beating St. Marys, Bishop Grimes topping Bishop Timon/St. Jude and CBA taking a loss to St. Joseph’s.
As for the Gaelic Knights, it slumped through most of the first half and, even when it got its offense going in the third quarter, Ludden found itself trailing St. Francis 44-33 with one period left.
Just in time, though, everything clicked and Ludden charged, using a 22-8 surge to go in front as Monte Johnson finished with 17 points, while Nic Button had 15 points and Champ Reid got 13 points.
