When the Solvay boys basketball team lost at Christian Brothers Academy on Jan. 11, it seemed, at the time, like an alarming situation.
Without leading scorer Justin Scott in the lineup, the Bearcats struggled, at times, to generate consistent production from its other starters, and would have to correct that situation in a hurry.
That was because Solvay’s next game was at Skaneateles last Tuesday night, a showdown between two top sectional Class B contenders.
The Lakers were 10-1, and even with a loss to Homer the week before it still held the no. 15 spot in the state Class B rankings, fully expecting to assert itself against the Bearcats.
Instead, it turned into the most impressive victory of Solvay’s season so far.
By a 56-46 margin, the Bearcats controlled matters on both ends of the floor, clamping down on defense, especially in the first half where it never let Skaneateles have many open looks.
Building a 32-18 advantage by intermission, Solvay then maintained its lead the rest of the way, answering every Lakers scoring run with one of its own and overcoming Nate Fouts’ 23 points as Jack Whirtley and Tyler Delfavero got eight points apiece.
What happened that night carried over into games on Thursday night, with Solvay defeating Hannibal 71-55 and Skaneateles taking its second straight defeat to Syracuse Academy of Science 78-68.
Against SAS, the Lakers trailed early, only to tie it 32-32 by halftime before the Atoms outscored them 26-15 in the third quarter to pull in front for good.
Nate Fouts did all he could, pouring in 28 points as Jack Whirtley got 15 points and Andrew Neumann had 12 points. But SAS had four players score in double figures, Dale McMillan getting 25 points and Zaccheaus Smith 18 points as Augustine Jusu and Marcus Pasha had 11 points apiece.
As this went on, Solvay was at Hannibal and got off to a rough start, trailing 16-10 before a second quarter where it nearly shut out the Warriors during an 18-2 spurt.
Able to get away late, the Bearcats saw Brock Bagozzi and Elijah Wright go to the forefront, each getting 20 points as Jaimen Bliss added nine points. Blaine Franklin had six points as Will Evans and Antonio Gonzalez each got five points. In defeat, Hannibal’s Kyle Dixon earned 24 points.
It wasn’t until Saturday that Skaneateles broke it skid, outscoring PSLA-Fowler 73-66. Fouts finished with 27 points, helped by Neumann and Miller Weir with 13 points apiece as Tyler DelFavero got nine points and Nick Wamp had eight points.
Not to be forgotten in the Class B mix, Marcellus traveled to Chittenango last Tuesday night and found itself in some trouble until rallying late to beat the Bears 62-53.
It was a rough start for the Mustangs, who trailed 31-25 at halftime but then slowly made its way back, ultimately relying on a balanced attack to take control late.
Matt Kershaw, with 16 points, was one of four Marcellus players to reach double figures. Luke Ingianni had 12 points, with Jared Sammon adding 11 points and Cory Cangemi 10 points as Tristan Jarvi got six points.
