CENTRAL NEW YORK – As the Chittenango boys basketball team prepared for Tuesday night’s visit from Westhill, it did so having breezed through a quartet of opponents following its last-second Jan. 10 defeat to CBA.
A Jan. 12 win at Cazenovia and a Jan. 12 win at East Syracuse Minoa was followed by a visit to Institute of Technology Central, where the Bears, getting a career-best performance from Brendon Barnard, put away the Eagles 79-62.
Much of the margin came from the first half, Chittenango steadily building a 40-26 advantage and then ably fending off ITC’s second-half charges.
And that was due to Barnard taking full advantage of all the attention the Eagles were giving to his more noted teammates. Hitting on seven 3-pointers, Barnard finished with 23 points overall.
Ty Kelly also benefited from this, earning 20 points, which allowed Alex Moesch (16 points) and Ryan Moesch (12 points) to have more modest output.
Machiah Maddox and Tyquanne Harris led the Eagles with 15 points apiece, Maddox matching Brian Hall’s total of 11 rebounds as Nyquan Gilbert had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Finally back home on Thursday night, the Bears had no trouble defeating Mexico 84-43, but the big story was Kelly reaching a major milestone.
Long a cornerstone of the Chittenango program, Kelly went to the forefront here and, with 22 points, surpassed the 1,000-point mark, which the team honored stopping the game with a commemorative ball and poster.
Chittenango opened the game on a 24-4 run and outscored the Tigers 25-8 in the third, Ryan Moesch earning 18 points and Alex Moesch 13 points as 11 different Bears got at least one field goal by game’s end.
Cazenovia had nearly a week to absorb the Chittenango defeat, but was able to do so and, in last Tuesday’s game against Solvay, played a solid all-around game and got a 58-49 win over the Bearcats.
A fast start gave the Lakers a 17-13 edge and then, in the second quarter, it held Solvay to two points and increased its margin to 27-15.
Though the Bearcats pulled close in the third and only trailed 37-32 with one period left, Cazenovia was able to clinch it led by Ben Bianco’s 24 points, which included five 3-pointers, and five rebounds.
Jack Byrnes pulled off a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, adding three assists. Tanner Lawson had 11 points and three rebounds as Bobby Livingston earned six points.
Even more impressive for the Lakers was its 75-38 romp over Hannibal on Friday night, the offense red-hot early as it scored a season-best 26 points in the first quarter and built a 66-35 margin through three periods.
Helped by seven 3-pointers, Bianco finished with 25 points. Alex Kuper stood out, too, with 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Livingston had 10 points. Byrnes amassed nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals.
