Geographically, only a few miles of road separate the schools at Jamesville-DeWitt and Fayetteville-Manlius, but their differences are profound.
That’s also true when it comes to boys basketball, at least in late 2016. From an overall standpoint, little separates the Class A-based Red Rams from the Class AA-based Hornets, but the fact that J-D possesses Buddy Boeheim in its lineup can alter the outcome.
It sure made a difference when the two sides collided last Friday in the Hornets’ home opener. A big third quarter, sparked by Boeheim, helped J-D push its way past F-M and prevail by a 67-58 margin.
Both sides were strong on the defensive end during the first two periods. F-M, coming off losses to Utica Proctor and Westhill in the Dec. 1-2 Peppino’s Invitational, provided all kinds of pressure to match that of J-D, and neither side could make a sustained run.
Only up by two, 22-20, at the break, the Rams gave the ball to Boeheim and got out of his way. Boeheim responded by sparking a 22-15 push through that period and didn’t let up until the game was over and he had 35 points and 15 rebounds on the ledger, plus three steals, two assists and two blocks.
Darvin Lovette, with 10 points, and Matt Carlin, with eight points and four rebounds, offered some help, but Boeheim, by himself, nearly matched F-M’s top two scorers as Tim Zapisek gained 19 points and Jawaan Crouch got 17 points. Nick Goodfellow and Ryan Salzberg had seven points apiece.
Right after its win over Institute of Technology Central in the Dec. 2 Peppino’s Invitational at Onondaga Community College, J-D played again less than 24 hours later against Newark, from Section V, and defeated the Reds 63-49.
A strong first half made the difference as the Rams steadily built a 40-18 advantage. Though it cooled off from there, J-D still had each of its five starters provide solid production.
Buddy Boeheim led with 24 points, eight rebounds and three assists as Darvin Lovette earned 12 points and four rebounds and Matt Carlin gained 11 points and five rebounds. Takuya LeClair got eight points, five assists and three rebounds. Ron Lewis added six points and four rebounds.
While J-D was beating F-M, Christian Brothers Academy had its own neighborhood clash with Nottingham, and had to work hard to beat the Bulldogs 56-47 for its first victory of the season.
A week removed from a Dec. 2 defeat to Bishop Grimes in the Peppino’s Invitational, the Brothers nearly squandered an 18-9 first-quarter advantage. Only up by one, CBA would proceed to outscore Nottingham 19-8 in the third quarter, getting away for good.
Paul Aversa led with 18 points, most of it from four 3-pointers. Dan Damico, with 14 points, and Kevin Underwood, with 12 points, offered the inside strength, the Brothers overcoming 13 points by Nottingham’s Jevon Jones and 12 points from Argjend Imeri and Jakair Sanchez.
Manlius-Pebble Hill, shut down in its season-opening loss to Cato-Meridian 63-22, made a big late-game comeback two nights later to beat Faith Heritage 48-47. The Saints used a 14-6 third-quarter push to lead, 35-30, only to have the Trojans rally in the final minutes and edge out in front.
Saad Burkhari led that charge, finishing with 14 points. Dan Mezzalingua, with 12 points was close behind, while Jayson Staiger and Nate Barton earned six points apiece. Noah LaCourse paced Faith Heritage with 12 points.
That same night, East Syracuse Minoa fell to unbeaten Marcellus 64-52. Much of the first half was a tense, low-scoring exchange as neither side could make a sustained run.
The Spartans only trailed by one, 25-24, at the break, but the Mustangs proceeded to outscore ESM 18-8 in the third quarter, holding on to that margin through a string of late free throws.
Gabe Holloman led ESM with 12 points as Dennis Benjack added 11 points, while Kevin Richardson had eight points and Devin Spencer got seven points. The Spartans could never contain Fiacchi, who recorded 25 points, including three 3-pointers. Nick Femano added 13 points as he and Fiacchi combined to convert 11 free throws.