CENTRAL NEW YORK – Revenge is nice – especially when it’s of the lopsided variety.
Carrying the bitter memory of a last-second home defeat four weeks earlier, the West Genesee boys basketball team went to Fayetteville-Manlius last Thursday and smothered the Hornets to prevail 55-36 and see its win streak hit six.
No other motivation was needed other than the events of Jan. 16, when Reilly Anderson’s last-second 3-pointer handed the Wildcats a 48-47 defeat.
A far better team now, though, WG would use suffocating defense to put the Hornets far behind, limiting F-M to just four points in both the first and third quarters.
Anderson had just five points and no Hornets player hit double figures, Boomer Kuss and Charlie Schroder earning nine points apiece. They trailed three Wildcats as Kolton Castrello managed 19 points, Aidan Phelan gained 13 points and Liam Kelly got 11 points.
WG had climbed to no. 19 in the state Class AA rankings when it took on Henninger last Tuesday and, earning its fifth victory in a row, stormed past the Black Knights 64-46.
A 38-16 dash through the first half quickly decided matters as Castrello led the way with 20 points. Phelan and Jake McMahon had nine points apiece, with Evan Dufford and Chad Smith stepping up as they each got eight points.
After beating F-M, on Saturday WG made it seven wins in a row taming Baldwinsville 53-35. Both teams struggled for baskets until the Wildcats made the game’s lone surge in a 21-10 third-quarter run.
Once more Castrello, with 16 points, and Phelan, with 14 points, accounted for more than half of WG’s production. Dufford contributed six points.
Bishop Ludden rebounded well from its Feb. 5 defeat to Rome Free Academy as, exactly one week later, it met Section V’s Bishop Kearney and routed the Kings 83-47.
Charging to a 49-22 halftime lead, the Gaelic Knights saw Jahzar Greene earn 31 points (his sixth 30-point-plus game of the season) and seven assists. Liam Sheard had 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals, with Joe Dunham adding 13 points. Trey Dennis and Nick Brunger had six points apiece.
Jordan-Elbridge met Chittenango for the second time in seven days and it proved much closer than the first encounter, but the Eagles still lost 63-53 to the Bears.
Having taken a 73-46 loss at home Feb. 4, J-E fared better on defense in the rematch and only trailed 27-25 at halftime, but Chittenango gradually pulled clear in the second half.
Nolan Brunelle did all he could earning 32 points, more than half the Eagles’ output. Lewis Vincent added nine points as the Bears were more spread out behind Jacob Cheek’s 19 points and Jacob Bell’s 17 points.
A 76-38 defeat to Phoenix followed, but the Eagles broke the skid defeating Mater Dei Academy 61-50 as it led 35-25 by halftime and saw Nolan Brunelle produce 28 points, helped by Chase Brunelle’s 11 points and Eli Castaldo’s 10 points.
This busy week concluded Saturday with J-E falling to Cortland 70-46. A 32-30 halftime lead vanished when the Purple Tigers outscored the Eagles 23-9 in the third quarter, this despite Nolan Brunelle’s game-high 28 points and Chase Brunelle adding 11 points.
Solvay ran into Mexico last Tuesday night and lost 62-31 to the Tigers, who won for the sixth time in eight games, and the Bearcats fell 67-47 to Phoenix on Saturday, Chris Nichols netting 12 points as Aaron Trendell got 10 points and Cameron Cappetta eight points. Solvay fell to 5-14 overall.
