CENTRAL NEW YORK – Had the West Genesee boys basketball regular season ended with the profound disappointment of its overtime defeat to West Genesee Feb. 10, the concerns going into the Section III Class AA playoffs may have proved overwhelming.
Instead, schedule and circumstances gave the Wildcats two chances to pick up wins and restore some confidence before the most important games got underway.
WG took on Henninger last Monday and rolled to a 70-52 victory over the Black Knights, doing so while Gary McLane continued to recover from the injury that sidelined him in the Liverpool rematch.
Henninger had just beaten Cicero-North Syracuse, so it was far from a given even though the Wildcats won 81-49 when they first met in January. But WG’s top scorers split up their production well, Jordan Cain and Christian Cain each netting 20 points and Christian Amica adding 17 points.
A night later, the Wildcats made up the postponed Feb. 3 meeting with Nottingham, a team it beat 79-55 a month earlier but had since gone 8-1 since and won six in a row, including a 66-48 win over Liverpool when Andreo Ash was out.
And with McLane still out, WG found itself contained well by the Bulldogs, who got its seven straight win by fighting past the Wildcats 44-39.
A cold first half had WG falling behind 24-17, and while it pulled within two, 34-32, by the end of the third period, it just could not put together the single scoring run it needed.
Only Jordan Cain, with 13 points, hit double figures against Nottingham’s defense. Amica and Christian Cain had seven points apiece as Sincere Smith got six points. Steyvon Jones and Denarius McCurty led the Bulldogs with 10 points apiece.
Even with that, WG still had the no. 2 playoff seed and, with a 14-team field, an all-important first-round bye which gave McLane more time to heal.
When Baldwinsville’s Eli Taft hit a last-second 3-pointer to beat Fayetteville-Manlius last Saturday, it lifted the no. 2 seed Bees into the quarterfinals against the Wildcats, to take place Wednesday night, the winner getting Nottingham or Corcoran in Saturday’s semifinal at SRC Arena.
Bishop Ludden was also in the Class AA sectional bracket but, as the no. 13 seed, would have to play an opening-round game against no. 4 seed Christian Brothers Academy in yet another installment of the “Holy War”.
Yet the Gaelic Knights nearly staged a gigantic upset, pushing CBA all the way to the wire and leaving with a lot of pride in its own effort even as the Brothers prevailed 51-47.
Slowing the game’s tempo down, Ludden played a superb first half, especially on defense, where it used its past knowledge of the Brothers to directly counter whatever CBA tried.
When the Gaelic Knights grabbed a 25-22 advantage by halftime, all was in good order, but even as it continued to resist well, Ludden got held to six points in the third period.
Battling to the end, the Gaelic Knighis got 11 points from Jahzair Greene and 10 points apiece from Joe Dunahm and Aiden Mahar and seven points apiece from Tim Dunham and Mike Masterpole.
At least the Gaelic Knights came off a victory, when it knocked off Corcoran 83-76 in overtime last Monday, tying it in the closing seconds of regulation on Mike Masterpole’s shot.
Then, in OT, Masterpole added three more points, giving him 16 on the night, and the Gaelic Knights prevailed, having seen Aidan Mahar pour in 24 points, Jahzar Green add 19 points, six assists and four rebounds and Tim Dunham get 10 points. It overcame the Cougars getting 34 points from Amir Reaves and 23 points from Jaiden Holloman.
Meanwhile, in the Class C sectional playoffs, Jordan-Elbridge entered as the no. 8 seed, able to knock off no. 9 seed LaFayette 63-52 last Friday to earn a quarterfinal date with top seed Dolgeville on Wednesday night.
Neither team got off to a quick start, but the pace picked up and, in the third quarter, the Eagles, up 23-21, outscored the Lancers 18-12 and gained control for good.
Nolan Brunelle hit five 3-pointers on his way to 27 points overall. Jack Barrigar and Preston Murray had 13 points apiece, while Cory Henderson stepped up with 10 points.
