CAMILLUS – In a season full of growth and improvement, the exclamation point offered by the Baldwinsville boys basketball team was Eli Taft’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer at Fayetteville-Manlius Feb. 18 that knocked the Hornets out of the Section III Class AA playoffs.
It was the no. 10 seed Bees’ first post-season win since its run to the 2020 sectional finals, and allowed it a chance to do something bigger Thursday when it took on no. 2 seed West Genesee in the sectional quarterfinals.
The game ended up displaying, one more time, the quality of B’ville’s defense. It just didn’t produce enough baskets to create another road upset as it lost, 44-33, to the Wildcats.
In two regular-season meetings, the Bees lost to WG – 76-45 in December and 60-44 in January. The closer nature of the second meeting demonstrated B’ville’s steady growth under first-year head coach Patrick Beilein.
And even with the Wildcats returning one of its key players, Gary McLane, to the lineup after a late-season injury, the Bees would do a tremendous job throughout the first half containing WG’s attack.
Drawing out the tempo when it had the ball, B’ville limited possessions and ended the first quarter tied 6-6. Even though things picked up a bit, the Bees went to halftime still within reach, only trailing 16-13.
Yet B’ville’s inability to establish anything against the Wildcats began to prove costly in the third quarter, where it was limited again to just seven points.
Try as it could, the Bees were unable to make up ground late. No player scored in double figures as Taft led with nine points and Jason Bifulco added eight points.
WG, who advanced to face Nottingham in Saturday’s sectional semifinals, got 16 points from Christian Cain and 12 points from Jordan Cain,
Finishing at 9-13, B’ville will see Taft, Bifulco and Ethan Hilliar graduate, but return Greg Marinelli and Nick Hollingshead for the 2023-24 season.
