The Jordan-Elbridge boys basketball team early upended reigning sectional Class C champion Weedsport last Tuesday night, only to take a narrow 50-49 defeat at the outset of the mid-winter school break.
Trailing 32-29 after an active first half, the Eagles’ defense tightened up the rest of the way, yet could not take full advantage of the chances it had to pull it out late.
Mitchell Holt finished with 13 points to pace J-E. Tyler Waldron (10 points), Wade Brunelle (seven points) and Owen Barrigar (six points) were close behind. Weedsport got 18 points from Josh O’Connor and 16 points from Mitch Feocco.
Confident from this effort, J-E then turned to Thursday”s game against Solvay, where it put together a 62-47 victory over the Bearcats almost entirely based on the way each half started.
A combination of baskets on one end and a prolonged Solvay slump meant that the first quarter ended with J-E holding a 16-2 advantage.
Then it turned around, with the Bearcats catching fire and outscoring the Eagles 21-8 the rest of the half to make up most of that deficit, but the third quarter reversed things again, J-E finding its rhythm again.
Up 46-37 going to the final period, the Eagles finished it off, Waldron building his total to 22 points and Jacob Lawless stepping up for a career-high 17 points. Owen Barrigar added seven points.
On the Bearcats’ side, Zach Bowen had 13 points, with Trae’von Riel getting nine points. Nick Commisso added eight points as Antonio Gonzalez was held to a season-low five points.
Just before this, Solvay picked up its first win of the season against Mexico last Wednesday afternoon, needing overtime to outlast the Mexico Tigers 62-54.
A strong first quarter was negated when Mexico contained the Bearcats in the game’s middle stages, ultimately taking a 43-38 lead by the end of the third quarter.
Battling back, the Bearcats pulled even, 52-52, by the end of regulation and then dominated the four-minute OT, holding the Tigers to two points. Gonzalez finished with 16 points, while Riel had 14 points and Gerold Bean earned 13 points.
Off to a torrid start, Westhill handled Syracuse Academy of Science 70-49 in its only action last week, largely on the basis of what it did early in the second half.
All through the first two periods, the Atoms kept it close, but after the break the Warriors, up 23-22, pulled away by outscoring SAS 25-10 in the third quarter.
Depth and balance helped. Sam Aversa led with 17 points, with Luke Gilmartin (15 points), Jake Zawadzki (11 points) and Shawn Mayes (10 points) also hitting double figures, overcoming 25 points from the Atoms’ Zach Allen.
