ONONDAGA COUNTY –
Though it may not have quite reached the same standards that it did reaching the Section III Class A semifinals a year ago, the East Syracuse Minoa boys basketball team still felt good about what it did in 2021.
And the Spartans would feel even better if it got the best of its neighbors from Jamesville-DeWitt in last Saturday’s season finale – which it did, in the most exciting way possible.
Trailing as time wound down, ESM turned it around and, with the combination of Nick Brown and Matt Burchill-Wright, pulled out a 48-47 victory over the Red Rams.
It was exactly the type of game the Spartans wanted, its defense quite smothering as it held J-D to just five points in the first quarter.
Fighting back, the Rams only trailed 25-23 at halftime, and it remained tight the rest of the way, with the production picking up on both ends as the second half went on.
Led by Preston Shumpert (19 points) and John Withers (14 points), J-D had inched in front, 47-46, when it reached the final seconds. There, Burchill-Wright found Brown, who converted just as time ran out.
That gave ESM a final mark of 8-4, Brown having picked up 14 points and Gavin Houghtaling adding 13 points as Jimmy Ferns finished with 11 points.
The Spartans began this last week of the season by taking on PSLA-Fowler Wednesday night, putting together a superb first half on both ends as the foundation for a 60-40 win over the Falcons.
This game, in particular, turned on ESM’s defense, which limited PSLA-Fowler to a handful of field goals in the first three quarters while zooming to a 50-18 advantage.
Ferns led the offense, working his way to 17 points, while Brown gained 12 points. Devin Mascato-Buffaloe earned nine points as Houghtaling and urchill-Wright each got six points.
Before it faced ESM, J-D nearly upended Liverpool last Thursday night, only to fall in a 69-67 thriller that featured a remarkable individual performance from Withers.
Connecting on seven 3-pointers, Withers had, by far, the best game of his career, earning 32 points as Shumpert put in 17 points.
Ultimately, the Warriors held on with scoring balance. Jaiden Reynolds stepping up for a team-high 16 points that included four 3-pointers as Jacob Works and Andero Ash got 15 points apiece and Nick Toscano, helped by three pointers, had 11 points.
Manlius-Pebble Hill managed to record a pair of wins along the way, though in last Wednesday’s game against LaFayette the Trojans fell 57-35 to the Lancers.
Held to two points in the second quarter after staying close early, MPH never recovered as Alex Abrams finished with nine points, with Johnny Gruninger and Qon Ewing getting six points apiece. Christian DeJoseph (24 points) and Colin Morel (18 points) accounted for much of LaFayette’s production.
On Saturday, MPH lost, 63-47, to Cato-Meridian, who used a 33-15 third-quarter blitz to erase the Trojans’ 23-20 halftime advantage.
Abrams gained 12 points and Ewing picked up 11 points, while Andrew Warren had eight points and Gruninger seven points. The Blue Devils got 20 points from Carter Abate, 19 points from Justin Baldwin and 16 points from Konar Witkowski.
Bishop Grimes fell 60-56 to Syracuse Academy of Science last Tuesday night, the Atoms avenging a 61-58 defeat to the Cobras in February.
Up 45-44 going to the fourth quarter, Grimes could not hold on, even though Jack Gutchess got 21 points, Jon Corl had 13 points and Sylvester Seton had 12 points. Stevyon Jones and Dale McMillan led SAS with 15 points apiece, Jones adding 14 rebounds as Marcus Pasha had 11 points and 11 rebounds.
