A 5-0 start brought newfound respect for the East Syracuse Minoa boys basketball team, plus a spot in the state Class A rankings in the no. 29 spot, right with more established neighbors like Jamesville-DeWitt and Bishop Grimes.

Now the Spartans would try to build on that by winning its own holiday tournament, but could not quite pull it off, falling to state no. 13-ranked Whitesboro 52-39 in last Saturday’s title game.

Whitesboro had edged Cicero-North Syracuse 45-43 in the opening round and, in the final, never let ESM get on track, its defense never letting the Spartans score more than 11 points in any single period.

Still, it wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Warriors got away, with only Jimmy Ferns (12 points) hitting double figures for ESM as Nick Peterson had nine points and Devin Mascato-Buffaloe was held to a season-low four points.

In a lopsided opening-round game, ESM wiped out Carthage 73-34, getting away with a 23-3 second quarter as all 11 players that saw action got on the scoreboard, led by Ferris, with 16 points, and Mascato-Buffaloe, with 14 points.

Fayetteville-Manlius, who had lost to ESM at home on Dec. 21, took a 2-3 record into its Group C bracket of the More Than A Game Tournament , but then put together impressive back-to-back victories.

First, the Hornets, on its home court, knocked off Utica-Notre Dame 70-57 as, with a 21-10 second-quarter burst, F-M erased an early deficit.

From then on, the Hornets withstood all of the Jugglers’ charges as Josh Michel led the way with 17 points. Most of Trevor Roe’s career-high 13 points came from three 3-pointers as Luke Davidson had 12 points and Ethan Page got 10 points, with Jack Nucerino contributing nine points.

This sort of depth and balance was on display again a day later at SRC Arena when F-M faced 5-2 Auburn and put together a 66-56 victory over the Maroons.

Setting a new career mark, James Madill had 21 points, 12 of them free throws. Michel put in 16 points, while Page, Roe and Charlie Gadsden got seven points apiece.

Hosting its annual Holiday Classic, Christian Brothers Academy took on Henninger Monday night’s final and claimed a tense, dramatic 45-42 win over the Black Knights.

Trailing early, the Brothers rallied to tie Henninger 20-20 by halftime. Then it outscored the Black Knights 16-8 in the third quarter, and when Jason Boule hit a 3-pointer to make it 44-36 late in the game, CBA seemed in control.

But Henninger battled back and pulled within two in the final minute. Even after a Brothers free throw, the Black Knights had an opportunity to tie, only to see Evan Keily’s 3-pointer go off the rim at the buzzer.

Dan Anderson, with 13 points, paced CBA, with Colin Kelly close behind as he got 12 points. Jason Boule got 10 points and Sam Haas has eight points.

This followed a tough 42-39 win over LaSalle Institute in Sunday’s opening round, where the Brothers had Haas, the eventual tournament MVP, produce 16 points, with Kelly adding 10 points.

Bishop Grimes, meanwhile, also took part in the More Than A Game Tournament, opening Friday and taking a 65-52 defeat to Shenendehowa. (Section II)

A back-and-forth first half had the Cobras erase a nine-point deficit to the Plainsmen to tie it, 30-30, at halftime. But Shen went up for good in the third quarter, overcoming A.J. Burnett’s 16 points as Ian Denton got 10 points, Rob Gilbert nine points and Joe Wike eight points.

Then Grimes fell to Fairport (Section V) 72-50 at SRC Arena, the Cobras outscored 33-15 by the Red Raiders in the second half and only getting Jack Gutchess, with 15 points, to hit double figures. Wide and Sylvester Seton had seven points apiece, with Byam Mugushu getting six points.

Jamesville-DeWitt had its own setback last Saturday, dropping a 79-78 thriller to St. Joseph’s, from Buffalo.

In a classic battle to the final horn, the Red Rams fell just short despite Payton Shumpert’s 30 points that included five 3-pointers. Matt Cieplicki had 22 points, with Trey Autry contributing 15 points.