CENTRAL NEW YORK – Having gained the upper hand for this season against its neighbors from East Syracuse Minoa, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys basketball team looked to pick up more momentum with the Section III playoffs looming.
The Red Rams, who sneaked into the state Class A rankings at the no. 23 spot early last week, nearly saw the grasp on that spot loosen against Oswego but did enough to outscore the Buccaneers 83-80.
These two sides played a similar game Jan. 16 at Oswego and J-D won it 85-78. In the rematch the Rams steadily built a 67-51 lead through the first three quarters, not realizing just how much it would need that cushion.
Roaring back, the Bucs almost caught up by game’s end led by 25 points apiece from Cam Atkinson and Eddie Kuzawski and 17 points from Noah Bwalya.
To hang on, J-D needed four players to score in double figures. Alan Zanders led with 20 points and five assists, Jackson Saroney getting 17 points and six rebounds as Terrell Willis had 15 points and Steve Bazile gained 12 points. Eamon Giblin grabbed 14 rebounds to go with his seven points.
In a far more comfortable effort that same night, ESM topped Central Square 80-53, roaring out to a 49-24 lead on the Redhawks by halftime and balancing things quite well in its attack.
No ESM player had more than Tommy Clonan, whose 13 points was matched by Wuor Piok. Ty Ervin had 11 points, Anthony Bryant getting 10 points as Ezra Wilson-Hefti had nine points. Robbie Clifford and Cole Venditti earned eight points apiece.
Again strong on Thursday night, ESM handled Homer 70-46, more than making up for a so-so star by outscoring the Trojans 24-2 in a second-quarter surge which featured near-perfect play on both ends.
Bryant regained his consistent scoring touch and finished with 20 points, while Tyler Quarry returned to form, too, getting 13 points, which Clonan matched mostly through three 3-pointers. Wilson-Hefti got 10 points, Chase Fredericks adding six points.
When it returned to action Friday night J-D saw the win streak at Nottingham, a 53-47 loss where it fell behind 30-13 in a cold-shooting first half and, despite a 17-7 third-quarter surge to close the gap, could not quite catch up to the Bulldogs.
Zanders had 18 points and seven rebounds. Bazile added nine points and eight rebounds, Giblin getting eight points and seven rebounds as Willis had seven points. Dei’Avion Camby, with 13 points, led a well-balanced Nottingham offense.
Earlier in the week Bishop Grimes, who had lost five of six games, saw its late-season slump continue at state Class A no. 6-ranked Westhill, who shut down the Cobras and prevailed 66-34.
Back on Sunday Grimes took an 81-69 defeat to Bishop Timon, from Buffalo, despite Nate Abernethy pouring in 37 points from 14 field goals, four of them 3-pointers. Garang Garang added 12 points.
Knowing all this, Westhill concentrated on containing Abernethy and did so, the senior only hitting on two field goals and finishing with nine points, which still led the Cobras as Bol Garang and A.J. Wade had six points apiece. Westhill was again led by Eli Prince, who earned 22 points.
Grimes ended its skid on Saturday handling Syracuse Academy of Science 65-38. Garang Garang’s 23 points led the way, Abernethy adding 14 points and Bol Garang getting 11 points.
Fayetteville-Manlius hosted West Genesee last Thursday night and, even as Boomer Kuss returned to the lineup, saw the Wildcats get serious payback in the course of defeating the Hornets 55-36.
Having seen F-M win on Chase Anderson’s last-second 3-pointer in Camillus four weeks earlier, WG limited the Hornets to just four points in both the first and third quarters.
Kuss finished with nine points which Charlie Schroder equaled, but no other Hornets player had more than Anderson’s five points. On WG’s side Kolton Castrello earned 19 points, Aidan Phelan got 13 points and Liam Kelly added 11 points.
