CENTRAL NEW YORK – As time passed, the Marcellus boys basketball teams’ come-from-behind win over Westhill in the Dec. 1 season opener looked better and better.
And having knocked off one main rival, the Mustangs turned its attention to another when it traveled to Skaneateles Tuesday night, and in a loud, charged-up atmosphere Marcellus was able to beat the Lakers 64-59.
Hot at the outset, Marcellus raced to a 22-14 advantage, helped by Will Burnett’s nine points, and that margin stayed the same the rest of the half.
Trailing 34-25 at the break, the Lakers cut into that margin in the third quarter as no one on the Mustangs could stop the Lakers’ Colin Gaglione, who was on his way to a career-best total of 31 points helped by Jude Pascal’s 15 points.
In order to hang on late, Burnett filled up the stat sheet with 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals. Will Kershaw put in 15 points, seven of them free throws. Pat Louer had a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds as Austin Voss added 10 points.
After that loss to Marcellus, Westhill promptly embarked on a win streak that continued in the Dec. 10 Peppino’s Invitational at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall, where it beat Auburn 63-51.
Leading most of the way, Westhill saw Shawn Mayes break out for a career-best total of 26 points, helped by 17 points from Luke Gilmartin as Nate Donnelly had eight points and Kam Langdon got six points.
A day later, Marcellus had its home opener, against Oneida, and roared past the Indians 69-36 in a game where it was decided by halftime, the Mustangs having steadily built a 34-12 advantage.
What made it more amazing was that all 12 Marcellus players that saw action got at least one field goal. Voss, with 14 points, led a well-balanced attack as Kershaw and Adam Sullivan had nine points apiece, Mitch Donegan seven points and Louer six points.
As Marcellus was beating Skaneateles, Westhill was shutting down Institute of Technology Central 54-33, steady on defense all night but needing 24 third-quarter points to get away from the Eagles. Gilmartin, with 17 points, and Mayes, with 16 points, accounted for more than half the Warriors’ output.
Jordan-Elbridge paid for long scoring droughts in its 55-40 loss to Phoenix on Dec. 10, the Eagles held to four points in the first quarter and three points in the third quarter.
Even Nolan Brunelle’s 15 points could not overcome these dry spells, with the Firebirds getting 17 points from Ian Burgett and 13 points from Johnathan Dion.
Solvay lost on Dec. 10 to Chittenango, 64-32, unable to recover from a first quarter where the Bears roared out to a 20-5 advantage.
Gerold Bean, with 14 points, and Jeff Sharpe, with 11 points, accounted for most of Solvay’s offense. Alex Moesch, the noted Cazenovia transfer now with Chittenango, led his side with 24 points.
Early last week, J-E took a 68-55 loss to Cato-Meridian, the result entirely based on a first half where the Blue Devils jumped out to a 38-22 halftime advantage on the Eagles.
Though J-E’s attempts to rally fell short, Jack Barrigar still had 14 points, with Cory Henderson and Nolan Brunelle getting 12 points apiece. Caleb Rouse added eight points as Jacob Carroll led Cato with 21 points. A 73-26 defeat to Bishop Grimes followed on Wednesday.
Amid last Tuesday’s action, Solvay lost, 65-54, to Syracuse Academy of Science, with a 25-9 second-quarter spurt by the Atoms proving decisive. Bean led the Bearcats with 19 points, with Tom Venturini adding 13 points and Sharpe 10 points.
