Five area high school boys basketball teams had to wait until Wednesday night to find out when, where, and against whom they would start the Section III playoffs.
In Class A, Jamesville-DeWitt held the no. 2 seed and Bishop Grimes the no. 4 seed, both enjoying first-round byes, but East Syracuse Minoa, despite its no. 5 seed, had to play in last Friday’s opening round against no. 12 seed Watertown.
Knowing that it would play its neighbors from Grimes in the quarterfinals if it won here, the Spartans played a focused and confident game from the outset and never let the Cyclones get close, prevailing 60-42.
The success didn’t happen all at once. ESM only led by two, 15-13, before going on a 16-9 run during the second quarter, steadily adding to that margin the rest of the way with consistent production and plenty of strong defense.
Nick Peterson made his Spartans playoff debut count, pouring in 24 points, and when the Cyclones tried to stop him, Devin Mascato-Buffaloe got open, hitting five 3-pointers to account for all of his 15 points. Jack Shields added 10 points.
Bishop Grimes watched all this, and got ready to face ESM in the quarterfinals, the survivor on the way to SRC Arena Friday night for a semifinal against top seed Whitesboro or red-hot Auburn.
Meanwhile, Christian Brothers Academy, whose late-season surge allowed it to make the sectional field as a no. 11 seed, had to go north to face no. 6 seed Carthage, with the winner getting a quarterfinal against no. 3 seed Central Square.
Ultimately, the Brothers paid for a poor start, and saw its season end in a 66-60 defeat to the Comets.
Though CBA scored well in the first quarter, it fell behind 20-15, and Carthage made things worse by limiting the Brothers to seven points the rest of the half while establishing a 37-22 margin.
The duo of Nick Valenti and Sam Haas tried to bring CBA back, Valenti eventually hitting six 3-pointers on his way to 25 points overall and Haas connecting four times beyond the arc on his way to 15 points as Dan Melvin got 11 points.
Carthage held on, though, with Jaden Kennedy getting 18 points as Derrick Lewis earned 15 points and Calvin Harper added 13 points. Chris Lane and Zion Tevaga had eight points apiece.
Meanwhile, with no. 7 seed Cortland’s 58-55 win over no. 10 seed Syracuse Academy of Science, the Purple Tigers earned a quarterfinal date with J-D. and the winner faces Carthage or Central Square in Friday’s semifinals at SRC Arena.
New to all this was Manlius-Pebble Hill, who capped its turnaround with a Class D sectional tournament appearance, this after going 10-9 in the regular season.
With the no. 9 seed, the Trojans met no. 8 Old Forge, with the winner getting top seed Lyme in the quarterfinals, and here MPH’s magic ran out as it took a 48-39 defeat.
All seemed fine when the Trojans bolted out to a 14-6 lead, but it got held to four points in the second quarter and Old Forge caught up, eventually taking the lead early in the second half.
Down the stretch, MPH slumped again, dimming any hopes for a comeback as Kendale Thompson got held to four points, something that Alex Abrams (17 points) and Grant Lewis (10 points) could not overcome. Jimmy Connell led Old Forge with 26 points and 10 rebounds as Shane Hulser added 14 points and 15 rebounds.
MPH had lost, 60-38, to Onondaga last Monday as a 27-6 outburst by the Tigers in the third quarter broke open a close, low-scoring affair and allowed OCS to gain the eighth win it needed to reach the playoffs.
Thompson only had 10 points as Lewis got 11 points and Alex Abrams added seven points. Logan Nordmath (16 points) and Wes Corr (15 points) paced the Tigers.
Perhaps CBA was still basking from its win over “Holy War” rival Bishop Ludden on Feb. 8, its first over the Gaelic Knights since December 2011, when it lost 61-40 to Cicero-North Syracuse.
A rough first half saw the Brothers well contained as it fell behind 35-12, never recovering despite 13 points from Dan Anderson. Nick DeMonte led the Northstars with 18 points and 10 rebounds, with Brayden McLean adding 17 points.
