ONONDAGA COUNTY – It was rough for the Baldwinsville boys basketball team last winter as it won just two of 10 games in an abbreviated schedule after J.J. Starling led the Bees to the 2020 Section III Class AA championship game.
Starling announced last month that he will attend Notre Dame next fall, spurning Syracuse University, among many other suitors.
As for the current B’ville squad, it gained a connection to SU when DaJuan Coleman signed on as an assistant coach to Mike Lewis.
Perhaps that had something to do with the Bees having its season opener last Tuesday at Jamesville-DeWitt, where Coleman was a standout on multiple state Class A championship teams before heading for SU.
B’ville beat the Red Rams 57-46, in large part due to its defense, which held the Red Rams to eight points in the first quarter and never let it get into full rhythm the rest of the way.
And while it took until the fourth quarter for the Bees to get away, it did so thanks to a three-pronged attack.
Trey Ordway produced a game-high 18 points. Dean Welch got most of his 14 points from three 3-pointers as Jason Bifulco earned 11 points and Eli Taft added eight points.
The home opener, against Syracuse Academy of Science, was the only one of the Bees’ first five games inside the Baker High School gym – and it resulted in a 63-57 loss to the Atoms.
What made it so surprising was that the Bees controlled large stretches of the first half and built a 32-18 advantage, only to get outscored by SAS 22-7 in a pivotal third quarter.
Stevyon Jones, with 24 points and 18 rebounds, and Andre Pasha, with 17 points and 10 rebounds, paced the Atoms. Taft led the Bees, with most of his 18 points from four 3-pointers as Bifulco got 14 points, Welch had nine points and Ordway added eight points.
B’ville takes on Westhill Wednesday and then meets Bishop Ludden Friday as part of the Peppino’s Invitational at SRC Arena.
