BALDWINSVILLE – Even in normal circumstances, the next chapter for the Baldwinsville boys basketball team was always going to be a challenging one.
Part of this was due to the fact that a large senior class had graduated from the 2019-20 team that made it all the way to the Section III Class AA championship game before falling to Corcoran.
A bigger part of it, though, was the summer announcement that J.J. Starling, who as a sophomore was already the program’s all-time leading scorer, was transferring to La Lumiere Prep School in Indiana.
So as Starling continued to showcase himself before colleges recruiting him, B’ville pressed ahead, glad to have any kind of basketball season after COVID-19 nearly caused its cancellation.
In fact, the Bees played the first boys basketball game of the Section III season, hosting Liverpool last Tuesday night and taking a 68-45 defeat to the Warriors.
Liverpool had far more experience in its lineup, which was key. It also remembered how Starling had twice hit last-second baskets to help B’ville defeat the Warriors in each of last season’s encounters, and wanted some payback.
B’ville watched Liverpool bolt out to a 20-8 edge through one quarter. That margin mostly held in the game’s middle stages as Ben Bifulco earned most of his 17 points (including a trio of 3-pointers) here.
But the Warriors pulled away late, largely carried by Jacob Works, who put in a game-best 23 points, and Andero Ash, who got 16 points.
Behind Bifulco, no other B’ville player hit double figures, though Nick Huhtala got close with nine points and Evan Welch contributed seven points.
Now the Bees looked to improve on Friday night when it hosted a Fayetteville-Manlius side that had claimed its season opener over Henninger.
But the Hornets prevailed 74-52, breaking out of a 16-16 first-quarter tie and then getting away by outscoring the Bees 18-9 in the third period.
Willie Strong, with 13 points, gave B’ville some consistent production as Bifulco and Evan Welch both gained 10 points. James Brussel and Colin Doyle each had six points as Luke Davidson (22 points) and Trevor Roe (18 points) set the pace for F-M.
On the road this week, the Bees would travel to Nottingham Tuesday and West Genesee on Thursday afternoon.
