ONONDAGA COUNTY – All through this winter, the Christian Brothers Academy boys basketball team has constantly fought off the attempts by several opponents to break up its prolonged win streak.
None of those attempts were as exciting as last Tuesday’s 59-57 escape against Westhill, where the Brothers trailed in the final minute but pulled it off led by the duo of Dan Anderson and Cario Williams.
For much of the game, the 3-0 Warriors maintained the lead, led by the trio of James Kelly (17 points), Luke Gilmartin (15 points) and Myshawn Thomas (12 points).
Down 50-42 going to the fourth quarter, CBA cranked up its defense and made up most of the ground, but still found itself behind 57-55 as time ran low.
Anderson got fouled and made two free throws to tie it, giving him 19 points. Then the Brothers’ defense stifled Westhill, forced a turnover and Williams hustled to the ball, driving to hit a layup before the clock hit zero.
All told, Williams had 14 points as he, along with Mike Schaefer (14 points) and Sam Haas (eight points) gave Anderson plenty of support.
Things were stressful again on Thursday when, CBA faced Syracuse Academy of Science and, once more, the Brothers made it through, outlasting the Atoms 49-44 to make it 23 in a row.
Unlike the season opener (a 65-46 decision on Feb. 11), CBA could not get away after building a 27-17 halftime edge, the game turning into a grinding battle where every basket was important.
SAS, just 1-6 going into the game, hung in there with Steyvon Jones getting 16 points and 11 rebounds, requiring the Brothers to fight back with balance and depth.
Haas led with just 10 points, followed closely by Williams and Braeden Burns, with eight points apiece. Anderson got held to a season-low six points, a total matched by Cody Miller and Amarri Pitts.
Finally, an easy game beckoned on Saturday and CBA took full advantage, crushing Chittenango 70-28 as all 13 players that saw action got on the scoreboard, led by Haas, who earned 15 points.
Before CBA rallied against Westhill, it had to fend off a challenge from Fayetteville-Manlius on Feb. 27, at the tail end of a difficult stretch where the Hornets lost four games in six days to opponents all carrying undefeated marks.
Finally past that gauntlet, F-M turned to last Tuesday’s game against Nottingham and promptly returned to the win column, rolling past the Bulldogs 65-49.
Particularly hot from the perimeter, Luke Davidson hit six 3-pointers to account for most of his team-high 24 points.
The Hornets were well-balanced besides Davidson, too, as Josh Michel got 12 points and James Madill had 11 points. Jack Nucerino and Trevor Roe earned nine points apiece.
On Thursday night, F-M fell to Henninger 54-43, a game that was, again, back and forth most of the way before the Black Knights outscored the Hornets 23-12 in the fourth quarter.
Madill had 12 points and Roe got 10 points, with Nucerino contributing eight points. But Davidson was held to four points as Henninger got 20 points from Evan Kiely and 15 points from Darrell Washington, all of it from five 3-pointers.
Quiet most of the week, Jamesville-DeWitt finally returned to the court last Saturday and lost, 54-44, to Henninger. John Withers led the Red Rams with 10 points as Daniel Anderson and Gunther Schnorr added nine points apiece.
