In 1984, the assistant boys varsity basketball coach at Christian Brothers Academy was promoted to the head coaching position at his alma mater. He has stayed there ever since.
And on Saturday night, when the Brothers defeated Solvay 67-47, Buddy Wleklinski reached 500 career victories, a mark only a handful of other Section III coaches have reached.
“To be around for 500 wins is very fortunate and humbling,” said Wleklinski. “But I haven’t scored a basket or made an assist. The players have done that, so this is humbling.”
Several of Wleklinski’s players were on hand for this game to help him celebrate, though a more formal ceremony will take place next Tuesday prior to the Brothers’ game against Bishop Grimes.
For 36 seasons as head coach, Wleklinski has symbolized continuity at the school, from having Ed Leone as his assistant coach for most of his tenure to handling the dual role as the school’s athletic director since 1989.
Winning nearly 64 percent of his games and going 500-284 overall, Wleklinski has led CBA to eight sectional titles and the 1997 state Class C championship, and is honored in several ways, including the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame and the home court that bears his name.
And it was there that the Brothers, once 1-4 this season, got to the milestone with its fourth win in five games, even though Wleklinski said he never brought it up with his players until the day of the game against Solvay.
The Bearcats arrived at this game 7-2 and sporting a five-game win streak, but was without leading scorer Justin Scott, who was injured earlier in the week in Solvay’s win over Marcellus.
Without Scott, the Bearcats managed to hang close for a while, even though CBA bolted out in front helped by Sam Haas hitting four 3-pointers in the first quarter. Haas finished with 17 points.
Dan Anderson’s eight points in the second period helped the Brothers build a 35-28 halftime edge, and then CBA got away in the third quarter with a 12-1 run, sparked by Jason Boule, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half.
Anderson produced a team-high 19 points as CBA pointed ahead to Tuesday’s game against Grimes – where the Cobras’ head coach, Bob McKenney, could get to 600 career wins.
The Cobras, even without A.J. Burnett in the lineup,rolled past Chittenango 74-45 last Thursday night to get McKenney to 599 wins.
Having beat Buffalo’s Cardinal O’Hara 73-68 earlier that week, Grimes returned to OHSL Liberty division action and built a 32-15 lead on the Bears with stifling defensive pressure.
Then it got further away as Byam Mugushu, with a season-high 17 points, was one of four Cobras in double figures. Sylvester Seton had 11 points, with Ian Denton and Joe Wike getting 10 points apiece.
Originally, Grimes was set to face Mekeel Christian Saturday, but its cancellation meant that it could happen at CBA just as Wleklinski is honored, a rare instance of two historical markers overlapping into a single night.
Manlius-Pebble Hill took a 2-4 record into last Wednesday’s game at Tully and played a superb first half, especially on the defensive end, the Trojans steadily building a 25-17 lead.
Yet the Black Knights turned it around with a 20-9 third-quarter push, eventually holding off MPH 55-49 as James Kelly still had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Trojans. Alex Abrams had 12 points, with Shontez Anderson getting nine points and 12 rebounds.
MPH lost Friday to Onondaga 64-50, the Trojans dropping to 2-6 overall as Logan Nordman (17 points) and Nate Recor (14 points) led the way for the Tigers.
