CENTRAL NEW YORK – All the great work the Jordan-Elbridge boys basketball team had done early in the 2022-23 season was rewarded with a no. 12 state Class C ranking.
Yet what threatened to undo all the work was a weather-related 15-day gap between games after the Eagles defeated LaFayette on Dec. 14 to improve to 5-0.
Finally back in action on the last Thursday of 2022 against Hannibal, J-E showed that its level of play had not diminished during the layoff in a 50-34 win over the Warriors.
Jumping out to a 17-10 first-quarter edge, the Eagles then held Hannibal to just nine total points in the second and third quarters to get away.
On offense, Nolan Brunelle hit five 3-pointers on his way to 17 points overall. Jack Barrigar had 15 points and six rebounds, with Cory Henderson gaining eight points, seven rebounds and three assists.
As 2023 got underway, J-E traveled last Tuesday to Fabius-Pompey, where it absorbed its first defeat of the season, falling to the Falcons 50-49.
Immediately, the Eagles found it difficult to score against F-P’s defense, falling behind 14-8 through one period and seeing that deficit hold up through the game’s middle stages.
Fighting back late, J-E saw Brunelle work his total to 21 points and Barrigar add 14 points. Nixon Karcz got seven points, but the Falcons, led by 19 points from Michael Stanley and 12 points from Alex Stanley, held on.
Looking to bounce back on Friday, the Eagles hosted Onondaga as the school held a Buffalo Bills-themed spirit night to lend support to hospitalized defensive back Demar Hamlin.
And J-E added to the spirit by beating the Tigers 57-45, though it only came after OCS seized a 13-6 advantage in the first quarter and then stayed close even as the Eagles erased that deficit in the game’s middle stages.
It took a strong closing stretch for J-E to pull it out as it outscored the Tigers 23-13 in the fourth quarter. Brunelle, with 21 points, got more help than OCS’s Gabron Polk (who had 26 points) as Henderson had 11 points, with Barrigar and Preston Murray earning nine points apiece.
Marcellus gained another high-profile win just before December ended when it beat Syracuse Academy of Science by a score of 61-44.
Just as it did when it upset Chittenango earlier in the month, the Mustangs clamped down on defense most of the way, building a double-digit edge and, when the Atoms tried to rally, outscoring them 19-9 in the fourth quarter.
Will Kershaw led the way, getting 17 points. Sam Barney had 13 points, most of it from three 3-pointers, while Will Burnett earned 10 points and Pat Louer had nine points.
Back in action a week later against Solvay, the Mustangs remained consistent, topping the Bearcats 61-49 in a game where it bolted out 21-6 by the end of the first quarter.
That margin grew to 53-29 before a fourth-quarter Bearcats charge, but by then Kershaw had earned 19 points, helped plenty by Louer and Will Burneett with 11 points apiece as Tucker Burnett stepped up with 10 points.
Though well-balanced, Solvay didn’t have anyone get close to Kershaw’s total, Nick Commisso leading with 12 points as Jeff Sharpe and Aaron Trendell had nine points apiece and Jordan Dippold got eight points.
Marcellus impressed again Saturday when it romped past Binghamton Seton Catholic 67-31. A 41-18 second half featured, once again, good scoring balance as Will Burnett had 15 points, Lauer got 12 points, Kershaw had 11 points and Jack Sammon managed 10 points.
