This was the sort of excitement and joy commonly witnessed in big-time high school basketball, with the home team reveling in a big victory and students pouring on the court at the final horn to celebrate with them.
Such scenes have rarely involved East Syracuse Minoa, which only made Friday night’s 61-58, double-overtime Spartans victory over Central Square even sweeter.
More than any other result, this game was validation of ESM’s rise in the Class A ranks, for not only did it improve to 12-4, it gained payback for a 65-52 defeat to these same Redhawks a month earlier.
Central Square came into the game 11-1, and appeared, at first, to withstand all the energy the white-clad ESM students brought to the gym, outscoring the Spartans 16-3 in the second quarter to erase an early deficit.
At one point, ESM trailed by as much as 12, but fought its way back during the second half, helped by the early foul trouble to Redhawks star Tim Giblin, who had 33 points in that first meeting but just10 points on this night.
Eventually, it was tied, 44-44, at the end of regulation. One four-minute OT didn’t resolve it, but in the second extra period ESM outscored Central Square 9-6, finally hitting some crucial free throws after missing 16 of them throughout the night.
Nick Peterson and Dennis Benjack each finished with 15 points. Close behind them, Devin Mascato-Buffaloe had 13 points, while Jack Shields earned 12 points.
Nearly a week earlier, on the day where ESM honored its Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, the Spartans made a memorable last-minute comeback to stun Fayetteville-Manlius 50-49.
F-M, who had nearly upset undefeated Corcoran earlier in the week, went out in front late in the first half. With consistent, relentless defense, the Hornets built up a 40-33 advantage by the end of the third quarter.
Yet ESM absorbed all this and, down by seven in the final minute, scored eight straight points to pull it out, the last of them on Jack Shields’ game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds left.
Benjack had 18 points, while Peterson, Shields and Ermin Alemic finished with eight points apiece. On F-M’s side, Zach Page finished with 14 points, while Kieran Miller got 10 points. Noah Craig and Devin Karpal each gained eight points.
When ESM found itself in yet another close contest last Tuesday against Cortland, though, the Spartans this time lost by a single point, falling 52-51 to the surging Purple Tigers.
This was the same Cortland side that, on Jan. 18, handed Central Square its first defeat of the season 51-50, and the Purple Tigers didn’t get rattled when the hot-shooting Spartans went up 22-15 by the end of the first quarter.
Instead, Cortland kept patient and, in the third quarter, cranked up its defense, outscoring ESM 17-6 in that period and then, down the stretch, doing just enough to withstand the Spartans’ attempts to win it.
Mascato-Buffaloe gained 19 points as Peterson got 12 points and Shields nine points. For Cortland, Ricky Young had 12 points and 10 rebounds, with Jay Atkins, Caleb Thompson and Rory Hines each earning nine points as Atkins also got nine rebounds and five assists.
While ESM went on to stun Central Square, Jamesville-DeWitt had its own test against Cortland on Friday night, and unlike the Spartans, the Red Rams were able to solve the Purple Tigers’ defensive riddle and prevail 63-54.
A terrific first half on both ends made the difference for J-D, who cranked up its own defense and, while doing so, allowed its offense to work back into form as the margin grew to 30-16 by the break.
Cortland played better in the second half, but the Rams kept answering them, especially Payton Shumpert, who drained six 3-pointers on his way to 28 points overall.
Matt Cieplicki had 10 points, with Preston Shumpert adding eight points and Kaleb McCloud getting seven points. Cortland lost despite double-doubles from Young (again 12 points and 10 assists) and Atkins (14 points, 14 rebounds).
F-M also played on Friday and lost, 54-31, to West Genesee, who shut down the Hornets most of the night and saw its star senior forward, Lucas Sutherland, earn his 1,000th career point and get 21 points overall. Zach Page led his side with 11 points.
Christian Brothers Academy returned to action Saturday and, trailing Chittenango most of the way, caught up by the fourth quarter and then outscored the Bears 20-13 in that frame to win 60-53.
Largely, this was a two-man effort on offense, Aaron Clendenin earning 23 points and Nick Valenti adding 20 points. Sam Haas added nine points as CBA held Chittenango’s top threat, Paul Wood, to just eight points.
