CENTRAL NEW YORK – Though it has spent the entire season parked atop the state Class B rankings, the Marcellus boys basketball team knows that it means little unless it wins games now – and into March.
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Having earned the top seed for the Section III Class B playoffs, the Mustangs are entering the playoffs in top form, as it showed again last Tuesday when it took apart Bishop Grimes 82-46.
It was 20-5 after one quarter and, thanks to a 24-8 third period, the margin grew to 65-27 before Marcellus eased up, again having shared its scoring production.
Mitch Donegan led with 15 points, just ahead of Will Kershaw’s 12 points and Will Burnett’s 11 points. Dom Gosh-Sandy and Caleb Meyer joined Codey Kociela getting nine points and Connor Ciota stepped up with eight points.
Three other local teams join Marcellus in the sectional Class B bracket, each of them eager to challenge or upend the Mustangs.
Skaneateles got humbled twice in the regular season by Marcellus, but still found itself at no. 24 in the state Class B rankings and, concluding its regular season last Tuesday night, moved to 13-7 by defeating Cortland 60-50.
Unlike many games this season, the Lakers were successful spreading it around as Reid Danforth, Tyler Dell and Finlay Coyne had 11 points apiece. Jack Peenstra had seven points, with Charlie Girzadas grabbing nine rebounds as he matched Carter Loi and Louis Richards with six points. Danforth tacked on seven rebounds and four steals.
Jordan-Elbridge has gone through an eventful season that included, among other things, sophomore Nolan Brunelle hitting 1,000 career points – but that wasn’t the only milestone Eagles fans would witness.
In an epic double-overtime battle with Cazenovia last Thursday night, junior Ben Bianco became the first player in Lakers program history to reach that same 1,000-point mark.
None of this would have bothered J-E except for the fact that, when the long battle was settled, it had lost, 84-80, not quite able to avenge a 62-38 defeat to Cazenovia two weeks earlier.
A big second quarter by the Lakers left the Eagles trailing 41-28 at the break, but it battled back and, in the fourth quarter, outscored the Lakers 22-11 to tie it, 68-68, and get it to OT.
Both sides scored eight points in the first four-minute extra frame, but J-E was held to four points in the second OT, half Cazenovia’s total as Bianco would finish his milestone evening with 35 points.
Brunelle still managed to outscore him, getting 37 points as he connected on seven 3-pointers. Preston Murray tacked on 24 points, nine of them successful free throws.
In another close game earlier in the week, J-E took a 62-60 defeat to Canastota, who trailed 47-45 going to the fourth quarter but inched out in front of the Eagles in the final minutes and held on.
Brunelle managed 21 points, while Murray had 14 points, Chase Brunelle 12 points and Lewis Vincent 10 points. Canastota got most of its offense from David Stevens and Richard Fairbanks, who each hit on four 3-pointers as Stevens finished with 23 points and Fairbanks got 19 points.
As the no. 14 seed in a 19-team sectional bracket, J-E has to face no. 19 seed Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Monday night in order to get a shot at no. 3 seed Lowville two days later.
Skaneateles, as the no. 4 seed, hosts no. 13 seed Solvay on Wednesday, with the winner to face Holland Patent or Mount Markham in the quarterfinals, and Marcellus will host the winner of Monday’s game between no. 16 seed Canastota and no. 17 seed Hannibal.
