CENTRAL NEW YORK – Five consecutive victories to open the season had firmly established the contending credentials of the Fayetteville-Manlius boys basketball team especially when its defense is in top form.
Yet it was that defense which slipped a bit in the Hornets’ Dec. 19 game at Corcoran, a tight and tense affair won by the Cougars 63-61 to put an end to F-M’s win streak.
Corcoran has a new head coach, Eddie Mitchell, and a desire to reclaim the program’s past glory (it won the sectional Class AA title in 2020) as it started 0-2 but then beat Nottingham and Auburn.
The Cougars solved the Hornets’ pressure throughout the first half and led 33-28 at the break. F-M roared back in the third to edge in front 46-45, but Corcoran regained the lead late and held on.
Still with a well-balanced attack, the Hornets were led by Charlie Schroder’s 13 points. Boomer Kuss had 12 points, Reilly Anderson 11 points and Nate Conley 10 points as Corcoran got 17 points from Fred Velasquez and 14 points apiece from Abdi Gosar and Lewis Swift.
A night later, a full slate of local games was highlighted by an epic which unfolded between Jamesville-DeWitt and Fulton that would spill into two overtimes before the Red Rams took an 82-81 defeat to the Red Dragons.
Trailing 39-30 after a rough first half J-D made up most of the ground in the third quarter. Then it closed in and tied it, setting up a chance to win at the regulation that would ultimately slip away.
They went to the first OT 65-65, but four minutes didn’t resolve it. The second OT began 74-74 and, though again the Rams had a chance to pull it out, Fulton kept it from them and held on to win.
Alan Zanders had a season-best 30 points, helped by 14 points from Jack Hazelton. Nathan Johnson grabbed 15 rebounds as he and Stephen Bazile each managed 13 points. Fulton sophomore Xavier Doty set a career mark with 39 points to lead his side.
Far less dramatic was Christian Brothers Academy smashing Chittenango 67-34 to move above the .500 mark (4-3) just in time for its annual Manny Leone Holiday Tournament.
Having seen Ryan Moesch leave for prep school the Bears had difficulty producing baskets against a consistent Brothers defense. On the other end, 12 different players got on the scoresheet taking pressure off Tavin Penix, who still led with 18 points as Drew Britton got 11 points. Gino Bullock had eight points as Ronnel John and Emmet Kilmartin had six points apiece.
Bishop Grimes improved its record to 5-2 smashing Jordan-Elbridge 72-34 setting the stone with just two points allowed in the first quarter and continuing through a 43-20 second half.
All 13 players who saw action for the Cobras picked up at least one field goals, and only Nate Abernethy, with 15 points, hit double figures. A.J. Wade and Eddie Koroma had eight points apiece, with Garang Garang, Antonio Fletcher, Bol Garang and Mike D’Agata landing six points apiece.
East Syracuse Minoa took a narrow 53-49 defeat to Nottingham that same night, a game where there was no separation until a fourth quarter where the Bulldogs outscored the Spartans 16-12.
Robbie Clifford had 16 points, with Anthony Bryant and Wuor Piok adding eight points apiece. Nottingham got 17 points from Daquan Williams and 14 points from Matthew White.
