For wildly varying reasons, each of the West Genesee basketball teams needed strong performances in the first full week of 2020.
The boys Wildcats had a need to reestablish its status in the wake of narrow back-to-back defeats to Shenendehowa and Baldwinsville before and after the new year.
On its home court last Tuesday night, WG faced Henninger, and while it struggled to score baskets early, its defense made up for those problems as the Wildcats would defeat the Black Knights 65-54.
During a cold first half, WG worked through its slump by keeping Henninger in check, especially in the second quarter, when the Black Knights managed just three points.
Eventually, the pace quickened, and a 17-7 third quarter put the Wildcats in control, with both teams putting in lots of points in the final minutes due to free throws.
Seven of Will Amica’s 22 points came at the foul line as Max Dennington also hit seven foul shots on his way to nine points. Adam Dudzinski had 11 points as John Benson got six points.
Now WG welcomed Fayetteville-Manlius on Friday, a far tougher assignment than years past with the Hornets off to a 5-3 start under second-year head coach Lucas Tucci.
None of this affected the Wildcats much as its defense was close to perfect in the first three quarters, silencing F-M’s group of 3-point shooters and building a 52-24 margin on the way to prevailing 59-47.
Aside from their strong defense, Amica and Kam Jones led a well-balanced attack with 12 points apiece. Sam Gallager earned eight points, with Benson getting seven points and Dudzinski adding six points.
As for the WG girls, it knew that its first of two crucial encounters with Cicero-North Syracuse loomed on Tuesday and it did not want to slip in the two games leading up to it.
It wasn’t a problem for the Wildcats last Tuesday as it routed Henninger 63-26. With steady production, WG built a 38-12 advantage by halftime and had nine different players get on the scoreboard.
Molly Coyne led with 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Catie Cunningham got 13 points, while Molly Benetti and Emma Garvey had eight points apiece and Erin DiPaola got six points.
It figured to be tougher against Fayetteville-Manlius on Friday night, and it certainly turned out that way, with WG needing to go to the wire to hold off the Hornets 56-54.
All game long, the two sides traded scoring bursts. F-M was led again by Lexie Roe, who poured in a game-high 19 points and got help from Lily Fish, who had 16 points.
Yet WG withstood all of it and held on at the end by possessing a bit more depth buoyed by the 16 points Meredith James put up. Cunningham had 14 points, with DiPaola getting eight points, Coyne seven points and Julia Logana six points.
A big one loomed Tuesday as the Wildcats visited Cicero-North Syracuse prior to a Friday game at Nottingham, the boys hosting both the Northstars and Bulldogs during the week.
