In the aftermath of the West Genesee boys basketball team’s first defeat of the season to Cicero-North Syracuse on Jan. 28, it was fully expected that the Wildcats would shake it off, then start winning again when 3-10 Oswego visited Camillus Tuesday night. At least that was supposed to happen.
Defying all the expectations, the Buccaneers stunned the Wildcats 54-51, making it back-to-back defeats and forcing WG, who had started 11-0, to face its first real crisis of the season. All of this stemmed from a poor start as Oswego raced ahead 17-9 in the first quarter. And even when WG erased that deficit and went up by four in the third period, the Bucs fought back and reclaimed a 39-38 edge with one period left. And in the homestretch, Oswego held on by making seven of 10 free throws, negating another fine night from Eric Spencer, who recovered from his off-night at CNS by getting 24 points here. Greg Wadach and Matt Naton added eight points apiece. Jake Metcalf paced the Bucs with 21 points. WG’s girls team, meanwhile, got a 35-29 win over Oswego to improve its mark to 4-10. Trailing 12-9 after a rough first half, the Wildcats took the lead for good with a 15-8 march through the third quarter. Melissa Fumano threw in 13 points, while Kara Datellas gained seven points. Oswego, in defeat, saw Taylor Giglio get 14 points, nearly half its total for the night.