Two consecutive season-opening defeats appeared to signal that a rough month lay ahead for the Baldwinsville boys basketball team.
Those concerns were eased a bit, though, by the Bees’ effort in Tuesday’s game at Nottingham, where a strong surge in the game’s middle stages led to a 60-47 win over the Bulldogs.
They were tied, 12-12, when B’ville moved out in front during a high-scoring second quarter. Then the Bees kept adding to that margin while its defense slowly took charge.
Holding the Bulldogs to five points in the fourth quarter, B’ville put away a game where Trey Ordway, earning 15 points, led a well-balanced scoring effort.
Ben Bifulco, who hit three 3-pointers, and Dylan Banks both finished with 11 points, while Willie Strong and Evan Welch had seven points apiece. On Nottingham’s side, only Malachi McCurty, with 17 points, reached double figures.
Two days later, B’ville tried to upend a West Genesee team off to a 2-0 start, but saw its offense go dry for long stretches, wasting a solid effort on the other end of the court as it lost to the Wildcats 49-40.
An early 9-7 lead vanished when WG outscored the Bees 16-8 in the second quarter. For the rest of the game, neither side dazzled, but B’ville found it difficult to generate any consistent production.
Bifulco still finished with 10 points, with Ordway and Banks each getting seven points and Welch adding six points. The Wildcats got most of its baskets from Adam Dudzinski, who had 20 points, and Maxwell Dennington, whose 14 points included a trio of 3-pointers.
B’ville returns to action Tuesday night at Cicero-North Syracuse before hosting Henninger next Friday.
