CENTRAL NEW YORK – When the Chittenango boys basketball team makes its way to Jamesville-DeWitt last Friday night, it does so knowing that opponents might find it impossible to keep Ryan Moesch from putting up massive numbers each time he takes the court.
It happened twice more early this week, starting with a lopsided effort against General Brown where Moesch had more than the entire Lions roster as the Bears rolled to a 79-29 victory.
Beginning with a 24-7 blitz through the second quarter, Chittenango turned a lead into a laugher, and then it outscored GB 34-10 in the second half just to be sure.
Helped by six 3-pointers and nine other field goals, Moesch finished with 36 points, and ample support came from Bernardo Betrovski, who had 10 points, and Jack Lamphere, who got nine points.
Back on the court to face Mexico 24 hours later, the Bears, who were no. 13 in the first state Class A rankings of the winter, saw Moesch again surpass the 40-point mark and do most of his damage in the middle of an 87-42 victory over the Tigers.
Mexico did play well in the first quarter, only to trail 16-14 and then see Chittenango crank things up, unstoppable on offense as tore to a 62-19 margin in the second and third period.
And much of it was Moesch, who again pulled off the feat of outscoring an opponent thanks to his 43 points that included 16 different field goals, five of them 3-pointers.
What was encouraging for the Bears was seeing Brendon Barnard and Jacob Bell get hot from outside, each of them sinking three 3-pointers as Barnard earned 13 points and Bell got 11 points.
Cazenovia had an even more daunting assignment than anything Chittenango faced as, at Buckley Gym last Wednesday night, it welcomed Marcellus, who was unbeaten and, for the first time in program history, sat atop the state Class B rankings.
The Mustangs, who toppled Chittenango 77-57 earlier in the month fueled by Mitch Donegan’s 38 points, would not get anything close to that total at Cazenovia, who played superb defense, yet still lost by a score of 55-36.
At all costs, the Lakers aimed to slow Marcellus down, and did so during a strong first half, only to not take full advantage of it as its own cold spell meant that it still trailed 20-13 at the break.
Then the Mustangs used a 15-7 push through the third quarter to get away, led by Tucker Burnett, who piled up 15 points, six steals, six assists and five rebounds as Will Burnett had nine points and Will Kershaw eight points.
