CENTRAL NEW YORK – It hasn’t taken long for the West Genesee boys basketball team to demonstrate that anyone wanting to take its Section III Class AA crown will have to work hard and play well to pull it out.

Opening-week wins over Jamesville-DeWitt and Nottingham had the Wildcats in a confident mood, and that carried over into last Tuesday’s game against Utica Proctor, where it got a 66-49 victory over the Raiders ahead of games this week against Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool.

Hot out of the gate, WG found itself with a big 22-8 lead after one period, but had to watch Proctor chip away at that margin through the game’s middle stages.

Only up by three, 41-38, going to the fourth quarter, the Wildcats regained control for good behind Aidan Phelan, who hit a trio of 3-pointers on his way to 25 points overall. Kolton Castrello helped with 10 points, while Chad Smith had nine points, Jake McMahon seven points and Jack Cosamano six points.

Bishop Ludden, who again is in Class AAA this winter, might have the goods to challenge for a championship, following up its season-opening romp of Henninger by battling past Institute of Technology Central 58-54.

Again Jahzar Greene stood out. Having netted 36 points against Henninger, he struck for 17 first-half points and helped the Gaelic Knights overcome an early ITC lead with a 20-8 second-quarter surge to lead 33-28 at the break.

But it stayed close, in part because of the Eagles but also due to Greene working past an eye injury which mostly limited his offense. Still, it was Greene making four crucial free throws in the final minute to seal the win and run his total to 26 points overall.

Joe Dunham produced plenty in the paint, finishing with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Liam Sheard added nine points and six blocks as Antwan Aiken, with 14 points, led a balanced Eagles offense.

Good as this was, what Ludden did Friday against Corcoran was even more impressive, the Gaelic Knights dominant on both sides of the ball tearing to a 49-21 halftime lead on the way to beating the Cougars 81-44.

Greene again led with 24 points, but three of his teammates also hit double figures. Trey Dennis broke through with 17 points and seven rebounds, with Sheard and Nick Brunger adding 12 points apiece as Dunham got eight points.

Jordan-Elbridge pulled off a rare feat in last Monday’s game against Fabius-Pompey, reaching triple digits on the scoreboard just before time expired to delight the home crowd in a 100-40 win over the Falcons.

All game long the Eagles lit it up, never scoring less than 22 points in any single quarter as it was up 54-18 by halftime and continued to produce even with the starters long removed.

Nolan Brunelle finished with 28 points, one of four J-E players in double figures. Preston Murray got 17 points, with Chase Brunelle getting 15 points and Lewis Vincent earning 12 points. Evan Moore added seven points and Kauchan Gorman six points.

At Pulaski Thursday night it expected to get tougher, but with Nolan Brunelle impossible to contain the Eagles played a near-perfect first quarter on both ends to gain a 22-2 lead and went on to handle the Blue Devils 67-45.

Brunelle hit on 12 field goals, four of them 3-pointers, and added nine free throws to finish with 37 points, equaling his career high and almost matching Pulaski’s entire output. Murray contributed 10 points.

Solvay got off to a slow start in its 2024-25 season, taking on Fulton from the Class AA ranks and getting overwhelmed in a 69-38 defeat to the Red Dragons.

Fulton used a 23-12 second-quarter surge to pull clear and put four players in double figures led by Koby Drake’s 18 points and Xavier Doty’s 15 points. Solvay got 12 points from Chris Nichols and 11 points from Aaron Trendell as Jordan Lorick added six points.

A 59-56 defeat to Chittenango followed on Friday night. With both teams seeking their first win Solvay fell behind 20-9 through one period and spent the rest of the game trying to catch the Bears.

Though not quite pulling it off, the Bearcats still saw Nichols tear it up from the perimeter hitting eight 3-pointers on his way to 27 points to lead both sides. Trendell had nine points, with Jeremiah Benjamin adding eight points.