CENTRAL NEW YORK – Even before they entered the fray of the Section III playoffs, area high school boys basketball teams had lots of important games to work through.
And none meant as much as Tuesday’s showdown between Jamesville-DeWitt and Fulton, with the Red Rams holding a 13-game win streak and the Red Raiders having won nine in a row.
With a second-half comeback, it was Fulton prevailing 61-49 and, by doing so, earning the no. 2 seed in the sectional Class A bracket while pushing J-D to a no. 3 seed.
The Rams jumped out to an early 10-point lead, but the Red Raiders whittled away until it only trailed by two, 26-24, at the break.
Then, in a decisive third quarter, Fulton outscored J-D 25-11, most of the damage done by Gavin Doty, who dominated in the paint and finished with 31 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and four steals.
No one on the Rams got close to those numbers, even as Brendan Kohberger put in 16 points and Ben Schellinger contributed 15 points.
Ironically, New Hartford, long holding the best record in Class A this winter, was upended Monday when Christian Brothers Academy defeated the Spartans 62-53.
Entering the night at 17-1, New Hartford boasted, in Zach Philipkoski, Section III’s leading scorer, averaging better than 27 points per game.
But CBA’s defense did a superb job on Philipkoski, holding him to 14 points, something his Spartans teammates could not overcome, especially after a first quarter where the Brothers jumped out in front 21-8.
Leading from there, CBA saw Braeden Burns lead all scorers with 23 points. All of Joe Nicholson’s 15 points came from five 3-pointers as Dan Anderson got 11 points and Luke Boule added eight points.
Fayetteville-Manlius again challenged Liverpool Monday night, unable to topple the Warriors in a 65-54 defeat.
Most of the game was evenly played, but only after Liverpool jumped out in front 20-10 during the first quarter, forcing the Hornets into a chase for the rest of the night.
Trevor Roe amassed 26 points and seven rebounds, with Max Danaher getting 16 points, but Luke Davidson was held to a season-low three points as, for the Warriors, Jacob Works led with 22 points, Andreo Ash got 18 points and it had a third option in Jaiden Reynolds, who earned 13 points.
Bishop Grimes stumbled in Monday’s game against reigning sectional Class B champion Lowville, the Cobras falling 73-48 to the Red Raiders, who held the Cobras to two points in the second quarter and closed on a 25-8 run.
Deng Garang had 16 points, helped by Jon Corl and Eric Wall with 11 points apiece, but Lowville had Brody Brown get 20 points, eight assists, six rebounds, five steals and four blocks as Dalton Myers got 19 points and Elijah Engelhart managed 14 points and 14 rebounds.
But that came 24 hours after the Cobras beat Syracuse Academy of Science 69-64. using a 26-11 third-quarter outburst to erase a 34-24 halftime deficit.
Garang, in particular, took over, earning most of his 33 points in the second half supported by Wall and Sylvester Seton each getting 10 points. That overcame the Atoms getting 24 points from Steyvon Jones and 23 points from Davon Perry.
Manlius-Pebble Hill was impressive in a 60-25 victory over McGraw Monday as James Wildhack hit six 3-pointers on his way to 19 points overall. Qon Ewing had 12 points, while Miguel Gonzalez had eight points and Kevin Frastasitinav got six points.
East Syracuse Minoa prevailed 57-45 over Oswego last Tuesday night, getting to 9-11 at the end of its regular-season slate.
