Each week for the Baldwinsville boys basketball team seems to bring about another marquee match-up and another opportunity to establish its credentials as a championship contender.
When 8-2, state Class AA no. 22-ranked Corcoran ventured to the Baker High School gym last Tuesday night and worked its way to a comfortable halftime lead, the Bees faced an inflection point in this potentially special season.
And instead of suffering back-to-back defeats, B’ville gave the ball to J.J. Starling – and watched the sophomore dazzle again, carrying his team to a 73-66 win over the Cougars.
It was in the second quarter that Corcoran threatened to get away, outscoring the Bees 23-14. Corcoran was spreading things around well and not leaning on its own 1,000-point scorer, De’jour Reaves.
And while that remained the case the rest of the way, B’ville knew that Starling had excelled in adverse situations like this, and were confident that he could take over again.
With a series of 3-pointers and other big plays, Starling erased most of the 39-29 halftime gap by the time the fourth quarter arrived, and he kept on going, all the way to the wire.
Ultimately, Starling got 38 points, including six 3-pointers and 10 successful free throws. He didn’t work alone, either, as Bo Nicholson chimed in with 13 points and Chase Trombley added 11 points.
Corcoran lost despite having D.J. Haynes and Jaeson Gillard each net 15 points, Reaves finish with 14 points and Ben Kemp add 13 points.
A rematch with the Cougars takes place Feb. 11. In the meantime, B’ville would host Cicero-North Syracuse on Friday, careful not to overlook the 1-10 Northstars, who had nearly upended West Genesee earlier in the week.
Having won 66-45 at C-NS on Dec. 13, the Bees found the rematch far more difficult to handle, and in fact it trailed most of the way before a big fourth quarter rescued a 68-65 victory.
Over the course of the second and third periods, C-NS outplayed B’ville and moved out in front, and early in the fourth quarter the Bees found itself staring at a 55-48 deficit, largely due to Luke Paragaon, who led the Northstars with 29 points.
But just like it did against Corcoran, B’ville saved its best work for the final minutes, outscoring C-NS 20-10 the rest of the way.
Starling still had great numbers, finishing with 27 points, including four 3-pointers. Continuing to establish themselves as solid alternatives, Nicholson and Trombley each had 15 points as Dan Fabrizio got seven points.
Having moved to 9-3 overall, the Bees stood atop the SCAC Metro division standings at 8-1, facing Rome Free Academy on Monday and then hosting Fayetteville-Manlius on Friday.
