While the West Genesee boys basketball team had dialed up many special performances in this 2018-19 season, none were as good, or as important, as what it authored Sunday night at SRC Arena.
In every phase of the game, the no. 2 seed Wildcats excelled against no. 3 seed Rome Free Academy in the Section III Class AA semifinals, routing the Black Knights 79-52.
And it brings WG to the Carrier Dome where it will face Utica-Notre Dame next Sunday in the sectional title game at 7:45. The Jugglers stunned top seed Corcoran 63-50 in the other semifinal.
Though in separate leagues, the Wildcats and RFA had played each other season, clashing Dec. 27 on the same SRC Arena floor in a wild, fast-paced affair that WG won 93-83, paced by Lucas Sutherland’s 35 points.
At the very least, the Wildcats hoped that it would defend better in this playoff rematch, but could not have dreamed just how much better.
Right from the opening tip, WG had the Black Knights in trouble, scoring the game’s first eight points in less than two minutes on back-to-back 3-pointers from Kam Jones and a driving layup by Christian Rossi.
Meanwhile, on the other end, RFA found itself challenged on every possession, forced into bad shots and committing plenty of turnovers, which led to more baskets from the Wildcats with those extra possessions.
Not letting up one bit, WG, with six points from Will Amica and five from Sutherland, had a 26-8 edge by the end of the first quarter, a surge from which the Black Knights never recovered.
All through the second quarter, RFA tried to make up ground, but the Wildcats kept finding answers, whether it was Adam Dudzinski’s eight points (including a pair of 3-pointers), or Jack McLane’s six points, or Sutherland blocking a shot in the waning seconds.
At halftime, WG was up 40-24, but it hardly was content, maintaining control in the third quarter and putting the game away by closing that period on a 10-2 run.
By the time he sat down midway through the fourth quarter, Sutherland had 26 points, nine rebounds and six blocks, with Amica getting 16 points, five rebounds and four steals as McLane had 14 points.
But the main story was the Wildcats’ defense. It held RFA to 30.2 percent shooting (16-for-53) and forced 17 turnovers while only committing seven. That more than made up for the fact that the Black Knights matched the Wildcats with 35 rebounds apiece.
Given the way the whole season had gone, most had expected WG would face Corcoran a third time after two memorable regular-season games were split.
However, Utica-Notre Dame, promoted this winter after winning the sectional Class A title in 2018, upended the Cougars, building a double-digit first-half lead and withstanding a second-half Corcoran comeback.
So the Wildcats’ quest of ending a 25-year sectional title drought involves taking out a Jugglers side that has already knocked out two SCAC Metro division sides (Cicero-North Syracuse and Corcoran), and now goes after a third.
