SYRACUSE – If the Chittenango boys basketball team is able to repeat its championship feat of a season ago, what happened Thursday night at Westhill will prove a major milestone.
In an intense, hostile atmosphere, and against an unbeaten opponent that has turned into a primary rival, the Bears traded blows and then, down the stretch, took charge to defeat the Warriors 68-54.
These teams had not met since December 2021, when Chittenango claimed a tense 53-49 thriller. A possible post-season rematch in the Section III Class B semifinals was averted when the Warriors were beaten at home by Central Valley Academy the round before.
And the 13-month wait for their reunion only added to the emotion on both ends, evident from the opening tip-off as each possession was contested, and things stayed close after the Bears started the game 9-2 and the Warriors countered with a 9-0 run.
The entire second and third quarters passed without either side leading by more than four points. Luke Gilmartin matched Alex Moesch’s first-half total of 12 points, and Chittenango clung to a 29-28 edge at the break.
Five different times in the third period, Westhill tied the game, but did not go in front, denied by a Bears defense that, for the most part, took away the Warriors’ outside shooting that had resulted in 11 3-pointers in a win over Bishop Grimes two nights earlier.
Yet it was Alex Moesch who helped Chittenango take control. Just as he had done at the end of the first quarter, Moesch connected on a 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the third, only now it gave the Bears the lead for good and triggered an 11-0 run.
Westhill did cut it to 56-52 with less than three minutes left, but without two starters who fouled out (Gilmartin and James Derrick), the Warriors could not keep Chittenango from getting clear at the end, capped by a Ryan Moesch drive, basket and free throw with 1:46 to play.
Alex Moesch finished with 28 points, helped plenty by both Ryan Moesch’s 17 points and Ty Kelly’s 15 points, plus key late baskets from Brandon Barnard, Jack Lamphere and Hunter Taylor.
Westhill, who will play Chittenango again on Jan. 24, was led by Gilmartin’s 18 points, with Omar Robinson getting 13 points and Shawn Mayes adding 12 points.
A night before this, Cazenovia took its 3-3 record to Christian Brothers Academy, where it was overwhelmed in a 66-32 loss to the Brothers that proved historic.
It was CBA head coach Buddy Wlekinski’s 550th career victory. Among active Section III coaches, only Bob McKenney (630) and Tom Blackford (592) have more, and Wleklinski is fifth all-time in the sectional ranks.
This game typified many CBA wins during that tenure, with dominant defense that especially took hold during a 20-4 second-quarter spurt that all but put the Lakers away.
Ben Bianco led Cazenovia with 12 points and Jack Byrnes added seven points. Braeden Burns, with 14 points, led a well-balanced CBA attack. Luke Boule got 10 points and 12 different Brothes picked up a field goal by game’s end.
