CENTRAL NEW YORK – With games still left against Class AAA favorites Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse, the Baldwinsville boys basketball team knew it was vital not to overlook any opponent leading up to those showdowns.
A good example of this singular focus was last Tuesday’s game against Corcoran, where the Bees ignored two aspects of the Cougars’ overall record and overcame a rough start to prevail by a score of 62-50.
That Corcoran jumped out to a 14-6 first-quarter advantage wasn’t a major surprise. Despite a 4-6 record, the Cougars had, less than one week earlier, knocked Class AA front-runner Fulton from the unbeaten ranks and followed up by beating Auburn.
Quickly enough, B’ville’s trademark defense took over, holding Corcoran to six points the rest of the half as it got baskets on the other end to take a 22-19 lead to the break.
Both teams produced plenty in the third quarter, yet the Bees added to its margin and closed things out in large measure due to the work of Tyler Nilsen, who led all scorers with 24 points.
M.J. Young continued his strong recent play, finishing with 14 points, while Ben Leaton had eight points and TeiShawn Wade had seven points. Corcoran got 15 points from Jaedi Higdon and 10 points from Eric Jackson.
Armed with momentum, B’ville began the second half of the regular season at Auburn last Friday and, looking to improve to 8-3 overall, did so by continuing to demonstrate its offensive improvement in a 68-41 romp over the Maroons.
From the moment the second quarter started, B’ville, who trailed early 16-13, clamped down, all the while starting to frustrate Auburn on the other end and ultimately outscoring the Maroons 40-16 in a superb second half.
More than half of Nilsen’s 23 points came from four 3-pointers. Wade continued to improve, earning 13 points, while Matt Pope got all nine of his points from three 3-pointers. Young and Nick Hollingshead had eight points apiece.
B’ville has three games in four days this week, with tough tests against visiting Jamesville-DeWitt and Nottingham before a Friday-night trip to Lowville.
