In the last days of 2019 and the first days of 2020, the West Genesee boys basketball team went through quite an eventful stretch.
The new year started with a big game last Friday at Baldwinsville, with much of the focus centered on the Wildcats’ Will Amica battling the Bees’ sophomore sensation, J.J. Starling.
And the game lived up to the hype, with Amica putting together another fine performance, but Starling taking over in the fourth quarter with 16 late points (and 33 overall) to carry the Bees past the Wildcats 57-52.
For the first five-plus minutes, Starling was kept off the board. But then, trailing 10-4, Starling converted a basket and free throw and then, with a 3-pointer seconds later, reached 1,000 career points, a rare feat for a sophomore.
B’ville appeared to gain control when it took a 33-24 lead early in the third quarter. Then the Bees hit a drought, not getting a point for more than five minutes.
WG used that time to move out in front and, by the early portion of the final period, had extended that lead to 41-35, But once the Bees told Starling to take charge, he did so.
A corner 3-pointer and delicate floater sparked a 15-4 run. Amica’s 3-pointer cut it to 50-48 with nearly two minutes left. But the biggest sequence came with WG holding the ball and trailing 51-48.
Again utilizing his quick first step, Amica drove to the basket, trying to reduce B’ville’s margin to one, but Dan Fabrizio blocked the shot and, on the other end, Starling converted a lay-up.
Four more free throws closed it out, Starling getting the best of Amica, who finished with 23 points. Yet the two friends posed for lots of pictures at game’s end, WG knowing that it will get another shot at B’ville on Jan. 31.
Amica, for his part, had already reached the 1,000-point mark, doing so in WG’s narrow 69-68 defeat to Shenendehowa on Dec. 28 at SRC Arena.
Amica got to the career mark early in this game, and once the ceremonies were done, a great battle ensued, similar to the one a season ago in this same tournament, on this same court, where the Wildcats made a big late comeback to beat the Plainsmen.
After a slow start, WG outscored Shen 28-15 in the second quarter and led 34-29 at the break. Most of that lead got erased, though, and the Plainsmen turned the final minutes into a back-and-forth affair, neither side getting away.
Somehow, Shen held on at the end, despite Amica’s 28 points and eight rebounds. John Benson and Anthony Dattellas each had nine points, Benson adding seven rebounds as Adam Dudzinski got eight points.
In the first round of the More Than A Game Tournament at SRC Arena, the Wildcats, who sat at no. 26 in that week’s state Class AA rankings, faced Fairport (Section V) and won 57-51 over the Red Raiders.
Though little came easily against Fairport’s tough defense, Amica still had 18 points. Dudzinski stepped up with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Kam Jones, back after missing the Dec. 20 game at Corcoran, contributed nine points and Dattellas had eight points.
