CENTRAL NEW YORK – The “Backyard Brawl” in boys basketball renewed itself Thursday night when Bishop Ludden hosted Westhill, each of them in top form and riding long win streaks.
And it was the Warriors who kept it going, claiming its 10th in a row with clutch play that produced a 57-53 victory and ended the Gaelic Knights’ run of six in a row.
Thirty-one minutes of intense, emotional basketball had rendered a 53-53 tie, Ludden making its way back after an early 13-0 run helped Westhill lead 22-9 midway through the second quarter.
Despite all the attempts to get away, the Warriors saw the Gaelic Knights battle and, late in the fourth quarter, gain a 51-50 advantage before a Charlie DeMore 3-pointer put Westhill back in front.
After a Jahzar Greene layup tied it again, the Warriors worked it around until, with 31 seconds left, Eli Prince hit a short jumper, pushing his game total to 18 points to match Ludden’s Liam Sheard, who also had 18 points.
The Gaelic Knights still had a chance to tie or win it, but after a series of timeouts it was Westhill reserve Jack Hayes jumping a pass from Greene and streaking in for a clinching layup in the closing seconds.
Despite the loss, Ludden could take away from it the knowledge that it can contain a top scorer as it held Kam Langdon, who finished with 13 points, without a field goal for the game’s last 13-plus minutes.
Yet it was the Warriors getting valuable and timely boards from Prince along with those key contributions off the bench, whether it was White’s clinching steal or Colin Shiel hitting a crucial basket. Hayes gained nine points as DeMore had 11 points.
Back on Tuesday night, Westhill had, for the second time this season, defeated Chittenango, even finding a way to contain the Bears’ superstar junior, Ryan Moesch, in the course of a 69-58 decision.
Having scored 46 points in their first meeting, Moesch returned from an injury that sidelined him for a week and played an inspired first half, helping the Bears take a 35-30 lead on the Warriors.
Now it was Westhill’s turn to battle back, erasing that deficit and, early in the fourth quarter, authoring the decisive blow with a 12-0 outburst mostly built on the outside shooting of Langdon, Prince and Hayes.
Langdon finished with 23 points, Prince getting 21 points and Hayes, hitting on four 3-pointers, earning 14 points. And as a team, Westhill never let Moesch get into any prolonged rhythm, the junior finished with 25 points, one of his lowest totals of the winter.
Ludden, meanwhile, swept its regular-season series with Bishop Grimes, prevailing 72-64 in a game far more difficult than the 71-49 romp of the Cobras less than two weeks earlier.
Grimes, led by Nate Abernethy (26 points) and Garang Garang (20 points), led most of the first half, but its 31-28 advantage disappeared when the Gaelic Knights outscored them 23-15 in the third quarter.
Liam Sheard helped Ludden stay in front, augmenting his 24 points with nine rebounds and three blocks. Joe Dunham was strong, too, earning 19 points, while Mike Masterpole had 12 points and Tim Dunham 11 points. Greene contributed seven rebounds and six assists.
After facing Westhill, Ludden met Syracuse Academy of Science 24 hours later and lost again, this time by a 68-60 margin.
Even with a double-double from Tim Dunham (16 points, 10 rebounds), 16 points from Sheard and 12 points from Greene and Joe Dunham, the Atoms won with another big effort by center Andre Pasha, who amassed 30 points and 23 rebounds helped by guard Thon Choi and his 21 points.
Far from all this, West Genesee, no. 8 in the latest state Class AA rankings, kept on rolling, moving to 17-2 on the season last Tuesday night when it defeated Corcoran 83-68.
Tearing it up at the outset, the Wildcats led 28-13 after one quarter and spent the rest of the game fending off all the Cougars’ attempts to catch up, led again by Jordan Cain, who finished with 22 points.
Close behind him, Gary McLane put in 19 points, with Sincere Smith adding 15 points. Jalen Zachery got seven points and Aiden Phelan finished with six points. WG closes its regular season next Thursday against Baldwinsville.
