CENTRAL NEW YORK – This was all new to the Marcellus boys basketball team, from the attention of a top state ranking held all season to the pressure of expecting to roll to the Section III Class B championship.
Four playoff wins would accomplish this for the Mustangs, and it got two of them last week in front of appreciative home crowds before the rest will get settled at neutral sites, one of them nearby SRC Arena, home of Saturday’s title game.
Marcellus put on quite a clinic in last Wednesday’s opening-round game, a 71-13 destruction of no. 16 seed Hannibal that was decided in the opening minutes.
Defending to near perfection and turning it into a string of baskets, the Mustangs were up 33-5 by the end of the first quarter and hardly let up from there, ultimately getting 14 different players on the scoresheet. Tucker Burnett led with 12 points, while Max Chapman had nine points, Damyn LeClair eight points and Codey Kociela seven points.
The opening round also had Skaneateles, the no. 4 seed, hosting no. 13 seed Solvay, and while it wasn’t as lopsided, the Lakers still controlled matters most of the way and ousted the Bearcats 70-42.
Where it turned was in the second quarter. Already with a 16-11 lead, Skaneateles outscored Solvay 21-9 in that frame, a run from which the Bearcats could not recover.
With Solvay honing in on Reed Danforth and holding him to eight points, Finlay Coyne and Charlie Girzadas both stepped up, Coyne setting a career mark with 21 points and Girzadas getting 18 points. The Bearcats, whose season concluded at 6-15, were led by Landon Raymond’s 15 points and Aiydan Geigel’s 11 points.
Friday night’s quarterfinals would have Marcellus face no. 8 General Brown as Skaneateles hosted no. 5 seed Holland Patent., and only the Mustangs were able to survive it, rolling past the Lions 63-37.
While not as lopsided as the Hannibal game, it still involved Marcellus bolting out to a 22-5 edge by the end of the first quarter and spending the rest of the game adding more to that margin.
Will Kershaw led the way this time, his 16 points just ahead of Tucker Burnett’s total of 13 points. Jacob Meyer stepped up and matched Connor Ciota with 11 points as Will Burnett had six points.
As that went on, Skaneateles lost, 62-48, to Holland Patent, who trailed most of the first half but took over in the third quarter, the Golden Knights outscoring the Lakers 24-11 and carrying that momentum the rest of the way.
Despite Danforth’s 24 points and eight rebounds and Girzadas getting 14 rebounds, HP rolled late behind Jeff Dewar, who earned 11 of his 29 points at the free-throw line, and Andrew Jones, who converted 15 points.
With the no. 14 seed, Jordan-Elbridge had to go through an opening game last Monday against no. 19 seed Altmar-Parish-Williamstown just to get a chance at facing no. 3 seed Lowville.
The Eagles had little trouble with it, though, defeating the Rebels 70-49 in a game that was close throughout the first half before J-E used a 16-8 push through the third quarter to seize command.
Hitting on seven 3-pointers, Nolan Brunelle earned most of his 28 points from the perimeter. Preston Murray also converted from outside on his way to 16 points as Matt Kline had seven points and Lewis Vincent six points.
J-E then visited no. 3 seed Lowville and was promptly cast aside, the Raiders prevailing 83-32 in a game where it limited the Eagles to nine points in the first half. Brunelle had 13 points, with Murray adding eight points and Kline six points as J-E ended its season with a 10-12 mark.
Lowville lost in the quarterfinals to Clinton, who takes on no. 2 seed Little Falls in one sectional semifinal next Tuesday at Jamesville-DeWitt after the first semifinal pits Marcellus against Holland Patent.
