CENTRAL NEW YORK – On the eve of a trio of holiday tournaments hosted by boys basketball teams from East Syracuse Minoa, Fayetteville-Manlius and Christian Brothers Academy, all of them were upstaged by what happened with another local side.
Somehow, Jamesville-DeWitt, a team historically known for its own long string of superstars from Bernard Blunt to Brandon Triche to Buddy Boeheim, withstood a singularly great performance by Chittenango’s Ryan Moesch to beat the Bears 83-81 in double overtime last Friday night.
Graduation around him has made Moesch Chittenango’s main threat, and he had already produced some big numbers in December, peaking with a 48-point effort in a win over Auburn.
Here, Moesch was even better. Almost by himself, and despite playing with an illness, he willed the Bears to overcome the 57-44 lead which J-D had steadily built through the first three quarters.
And it kept going, through one four-minute OT period and then another, only ending when Moesch had set a Chittenango school record by netting 55 points – 20 field goals (two of them 3-pointers) and 13 successful free throws, to go with five rebounds, five assists and five steals.
Somehow, J-D was able to match, and ultimately, surpass Moesch with a more collective effort. Terrell Willis gained 21 points and Jack Hazelton hit six 3-pointers to account for all of his 18 points. Alan Zanders had 12 points, with Trent Hughes and Eamon Giblin earning eight points and the likes of Nate Johnson (seven points) and Bryce Wheeler (six points) helping, too.
Eariler that same day, CBA, set to host its annual Manny Leone Tournament with state Class B no. 1-ranked Marcelllus as its first-round opponent Friday night, prevailed 53-50 over its Albany CBA counterparts.
It was a much-needed victory for the Brothers, who entered the game 1-5, and found itself trailing in this game 30-27 at halftime before battling its way in front in the third and then holding Albany CBA to just seven points in the final period.
Jason Brunson, with 13 points, led a well-balanced attack. Ethan Harris gained 12 points, with Tavin Penix getting 11 points and Connor Morgia earning six points.
That was a better result than what F-M experienced against visiting Nottingham, a 59-38 defeat that left the Hornets with a 3-4 overall record.
A six-point first quarter was followed by a seven-point second period. All of those empty possessions and missed shots took a cumulative toll, as did the work of Bulldogs guard Denarius McCurty.
Whatever F-M tried against McCurty did not work as he connected on 10 field goals, two of them 3-pointers, and 10 free throws on his way to 32 points, nearly matching the entire Hornets roster.
Chris Cleary, on the night he was honored for having the most kills in the history of F-M boys volleyball, had 15 points as he, along with Sean Kellish (nine points) and Chris Shanguhyia (seven points), accounted for most of the Hornets’ production.
ESM had its own struggle that same evening against Liverpool, its offense unable to get much generated on a consistent basis during a 58-37 defeat to the reigning sectional Class AA champion Warriors.
Having moved up to Class AAA, Liverpool paid full attention to the Spartans, taking charge with a first quarter where it made several defensive steps and produced enough to build a 17-6 lead.
Steadily adding to that margin the rest of the way, Liverpool was led by Freddie Fowler’s 16 points as Alex Trombley got nine points. To pace ESM, Anthony Bryant had 10 points and Tyler Quarry got nine points.
