CENTRAL NEW YORK – Having swept its neighbors from Jamesville-DeWitt, the East Syracuse Minoa boys basketball team took newfound confidence into the last full week of the regular season – and it wasn’t misplaced.
The Spartans got another big victory last Tuesday against Central Square, again proving tough in the clutch to pull out a 53-51 victory over the Redhawks.
Having lost 53-42 to Central Square on Jan. 12, ESM fell behind again here, but never let the Redhawks get out of sight and, once more, proved clutch in the fourth quarter.
Defensively, the Spartans held the Redhawks to eight points and got just enough on the other end to inch in front and stay there, led by Tristan Henderson, who got 17 points.
A.J. Graham had 11 points as Tyler Quarry got eight points and Anthony Bryant seven points. It was, overall, the sixth time this winter a Spartans game was decided by four points or less.
J-D, meanwhile, recovered from the ESM loss well, prevailing 64-53 over Oswego last Tuesday night in a game where the Buccaneers kept it close most of the way, led by Moreno Fenty’s 18 points.
But the Rams outscored Oswego 23-16 in the fourth quarter to get clear as Anthony Stickle, with 11 points, led a deep, well-balanced effort. Trent Hughes got 10 points, with Alan Zanders getting nine points as Jake Ogata had eight points, Ian Delpha seven points and Jackson Saroney six points.
Yet it didn’t carry over into Thursday’s game, a 53-44 loss to Auburn where J-D fell behind 34–23 by halftime and could not catch up, Stickle and Hughes getting 12 points apiece as Delpha added eight points. The Maroons were led by the duo of DeSean Strachan, who had 25 points, and Tony Borges, who added 17 points.
On Friday, ESM won 61-52 over Cortland, getting away from the Purple Tigers late behind 20 points from Quarry, nine of them free throws. Cole Thomas had 13 points, with Henderson adding 11 points and Graham getting nine points.
When J-D played on Saturday against Whitesboro, it lost again, a 52-47 decision that left the Rams at 8-10 overall.
Up in the Class AA ranks, Fayetetville-Manlius faced some real struggles, taking three losses in a four-day span.
The Hornets would meet West Genesee again last Tuesday night. Just like previous meetings, it was close and tense, and once again F-M could not quite match the Wildcats, who prevailed 62-54.
They were even early, but WG held the Hornets to nine points in the second quarter, went out in front and stayed there by constantly answering the work of Trevor Roe, who poured in 32 points with help from Chris Cleary’s 11 points.
The Wildcats were well-balanced between three different scorers as Jordan Cain led with 18 points, but Christian Amica (16 points) and Gary McLane (15 points) were close behind.
Playing its entire regular-season homestretch on the road, F-M then went to Cicero-North Syracuse on Thursday where it saw the Northstars avenge a Jan. 6 defeat by a comfortable 69-48 margin.
Both teams produced plenty in the first half, but C-NS’s defense took over from there, holding F-M to just 12 points in the last two periods and limiting Roe to 16 points as Cleary, Tyler Hutcheson and Michael Hance had nine points apiece.
Reece Congel hit five 3-pointers for C-NS and led both sides with 22 points, while sophomore Andrew Benedict again did well, earning 15 points.
Back on the court 24 hours later to face Corcoran, F-M, without Roe in the lineup, could not overcome a slow start in a 76-67 loss to the Cougars.
F-M trailed 24-14 through one quarter, and spent the rest of the game trying to catch up. Cleary had 22 points, with Hutcheson adding 12 points and Daniel Stark 16 points, but Corcoran rode 33 points rom Jaiden Holloman and 29 points from Amir Reaves to victory.
