CENTRAL NEW YORK – The round robin of high-level boys basketball among neighbors and rivals began Jan. 24 when Westhill routed a Marcellus side which was short-handed.
Both of them would go on to prevail the following week against Skaneateles, starting last Wednesday night when Westhill, sitting at no. 7 in the state Class A rankings, displayed new depth in its attack beating the Lakers 67-53.
For much of the game Skaneateles stayed right with Westhill, regardless of the scoring pace. They were tied 27-27 at halftime and the Lakers only trailed 48-46 with one period left.
Still, Westhill was able to get away late, and while Eli Prince again led with 21 points, Eli Welch (15 points), Jackson Goodness and Jack Hayes (11 points each) also reached double figures.
For Skaneateles as only Jack Peenstra (19 points) and Reid Danforth (17 points) produced on a consistent basis, Brody Loi adding eight points.
More difficult for the Lakers was turning around and facing Marcellus two nights later, with the Mustangs welcoming back Dom Gosh-Sandy to the lineup after he missed the Westhill game.
The full-strength Marcellus side would jump all over the Lakers early and never lose control, eventually prevailing 67-50.
Having everyone on hand alone seemed to give Marcellus an energy Skaneateles could not match, the first quarter a reflection of this as the Mustangs didn’t let up until it had secured a 23-7 advantage.
A big third quarter stretched the margin to 62-34 before Marcellus eased up. Gosh-Sandy produced 16 points, second only to teammate Mitch Donegan’s 20 points as Connor Ciota got 13 points and Tucker Burnett had 10 points.
None of the Lakers’ top players could get going until the late stages. Peenstra finished with 16 points, Danforth adding 10 points as Joe Delmonico finished with seven points.
Back on Thursday Westhill put away Institute of Technology Central 71-50, leading most of the way thanks to 26 points from Prince and 18 points from Welch, with Hayes contributing 12 points and Goodness earning seven points.
Solvay took a close 68-64 defeat to Mexico Thursday night, not quite able to overcome a 35-25 halftime deficit despite a balanced attack where Aaron Trendell had 15 points, Chris Nichols and Cameron Cappotta 13 points each and Max Overend 11 points. Chris Hermitt (22 points) and Brayden Mack (21 points) paced the Tigers.
Jordan-Elbridge returned to action on Saturday for the first time in more than a week and picked up a 62-53 victory over Canastota, again with Nolan Brunelle in the spotlight.
Accounting for more than half of the Eagles’ offense, Brunelle finished with 34 points, largely from eight 3-pointers. Chase Brunelle added 14 points as J-E improved its overall record to 8-6.