CENTRAL NEW YORK – Back in early December, the Marcellus boys basketball team had served notice about its intentions when it held reigning Section III Class B champion Chittenango in check on the Bears’ own home court.
Now the Mustangs looked for a season sweep, but instead got the other version of Chittenango that, led by red-hot outside shooting, got even by prevailing 70-54.
All that was remarkable about that 46-40 meeting nearly two months ago was, in a way, accentuated by what happened here, for by halftime the Bears already had surpassed its total from that first encounter.
Even with the vaunted Marcellus defense focusing in on them, Ryan and Alex Moesch’s string of 3-pointers made up most of the production as the Mustangs fell behind 42-20 by halftime.
Though it improved from there, Marcellus still could only watch as Alex Moesch (26 points) and Ryan Moesch (25 points) converted nine times beyond the arc and Ty Kelly added three more to account for all of his nine points.
In defeat, the Mustangs got 18 points from Will Kershaw and 14 points from Will Burnett, with Mitch Donegan earning eight points and Pat Louer adding six points.
Stewing about this for three days, Marcellus then proved dominant Saturday against Phoenix, threatening to reach triple digits in a 92-54 romp over the Firebirds.
A 51-point first half created the possibility for 100, fueled by Donegan’s red-hot shooting as he set a career mark with seven 3-pointers to account for most of his 25 points.
Will Burnett got 16 points, with Louer earning 14 points, Kershaw 12 points and Tucker Burnett eight points as Codey Kociela contributed six points off the bench.
Westhill had rolled through its competition since a Jan. 24 defeat at Chittenango, including last Monday’s 91-59 victory over Institute of Technology Central.
A solid first half had the Warriors in front 38-30, but in the third quarter it exploded for 15 field goals and 32 points overall, pulling far away from the Eagles.
Luke Gilmartin put up a team-best 22 points, but Kam Langdon was right behind, earning 21 points as Shawn Mayes had 18 points and Omar Robinson finished with 12 points.
A similar result took place Saturday, Westhill romping past Cazenovia 88-42 as Robinson, with 18 points, led five Warriors in double figures.
Mayes had all of his 16 points in the first half, much of it from four 3-pointers. Langdon picked up 14 points, while Charlie DeMore had 11 points and Gilmartin gained 10 points.
Skaneateles, who had lost Jan. 27 to Marcellus, took a 9-5 record into last Tuesday’s game with 4-9 Homer, only to get surprised in a 63-54 loss to the Trojans.
Then it had to deal with Chittenango on Thursday, and the 90-69 margin did not reflect the way the Bears barraged them, especially during a 58-12 dash through the second and third quarters.
Ethan Hunt still managed 17 points, with Tyler Dell adding 12 points. Carter Loi got nine points as, for Chittenango, Kelly, Ryan Moesch (25 points each) and Alex Moesch (28 points) combined to sink 11 3-pointers.
Solvay got its sixth win of the season last Monday when it handled Mexico 63-41. Two nights later, hosting Oswego, the Bearcats prevailed again, turning back the Buccaneers 53-42.
A well-balanced attack would see Aaron Trendell put in 11 points, with Jeff Sharper and Aiyden Geigel getting 10 points apiece. Jordan Dippold and Landon Raymond had seven points apiece.
