CENTRAL NEW YORK – Area high school basketball teams all want to win championships, but East Syracuse Minoa had a reason to think desire could lead to great results in 205-26. The Spartans were ousted by Nottingham in last March’s Section III Class AA semifinals and return several key players, a ll of whom would play a role when ESM earned neighborhood bragging rights last Tuesday night against Fayetteville-Manlius by a score of 55-47. Much was the night was tense, close and low-scoring, but it was the Spartans’ defense which would play at its best in the fourth quarter rarely letting the Hornets convert. Anthony Bryant was easily the game’s top scorer, his 22 points more than double what any Hornets player could produce as Brandon Blitz, Alex Kulikowsky and Adam Winnowicz led F-M with 10 points apiece. Robbie Clifford also got 10 points to support Bryant, with Ezra Wilson-Hefti earning eight points and Cole Venditti getting six points. Gavin Knuth added seven points for the Hornets. Before this ESM met defending sectional champion West Genesee in the closing game of the Peppino’s Invitational at Jamesville-DeWitt a day after F-M had defeated Corcoran in that same event. ESM lost 62-52 in a game that would swing back and forth at the outset, with the Spartans leading early only to have WG edge into a 29-27 advantage going into halftime. Try as it could, ESM could not keep the Wildcats from adding to its margin late. Bryant led his side with 18 points and Clifford had 10 points, with Ty Ervin getting seven points. Wilson-Hefti and Jalen Robinson got six points apiece. The featured game that same day had Christian Brothers Academy follow up its win over Cicero-North Syracuse the night before by defeating Jameville-DeWitt 49-40. For much of the game the Brothers were stifled, but trailing 29-24 it suddenly found its scoring touch and more than doubled its game output in the fourth quarter while outscoring the Red Rams 25-11 to take it. Max Hann led CBA with 17 points and teammate Frank Ford earned 15 points, with Gino Bullock contributing 10 points. Sion Willis led J-D’s effort with 12 points and eight rebounds, Steve Bazile addine nine points and Hussien Osman seven points. In the middle of the week the Brothers picked up four players who were on the state Class AA championship football team and needed a fourth-quarter comeback to beat Jordan-Elbridge 64-57. CBA outscored the Eagles 18-10 led by Bullock’s 20 points and Ford’s 19 points, with Jesse Beach getting nine points and James Cass eight points. Then the Brothers made it five wins in a row Friday topping Cortland 57-41 as Bullock again stood out, earning 21 points. Keighlin Hicks, one of the football players now in the rotation, had eight points to equal Cass as Jack Shehadi had seven points and Ford got six points. More lopsided was J-D’s 74-37 romp over South Jefferson where all 10 players who saw action got on the scoreboard. Bazile had 17 points, with Sam Jacobs adding 14 points and Willis 12 points as all of Gus Cronin’s nine points came from a trio of 3-pointers. In the Auburn Tournament F-M beat the host Maroons 55-50 in the opening round steadily building a 41-33 lead through three quarters. Hunter Smith had 15 points, followed closely by Blitz’s 13 points and Kulikowsky’s 11 points. Matched up against New Hartford in Saturday afternoon’s final, the Hornets were mostly contained by a stifling Spartans defense in a 56-39 defeat. Only in the third quarter did F-M reach double digits, New Hartford building a 31-18 halftime advantage and ultimately getting 16 points from Geovanni Frattasio. Jace Freyer led the Hornets with 12 points as Hunter Smith added nine points. ...read more read less