La Salle and Mekeel Christian Academy victorious in opening round of CBA Holiday Tournament
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) -- Four Section II boys basketball teams with combined records of 19-4 gathered Wednesday night at Christian Brothers Academy for the opening round of the CBA Basketball Holiday Tournament.
The two matchups pitted a pair of Class AAA teams against a pair of AA teams, but it was the AA squads proving their superiority.
In game one, La Salle took down Bethlehem 45-43, despite being outscored by the Eagles in each of the final three quarters.
The difference was an 11-point cushion the Cadets built after a 21-10 first quarter. Bethlehem clawed back, and even maintained a lead in the final minutes of the game. But a pair of Emmanuel Karkari-Mensah free throws with just seconds remaining on the clock sealed the victory for La Salle.
The Cadets' Tra'Dell Faison and the Eagles' Cameron LaClair both posted a game-high 20 points. Davon Maloney followed closely behind Faison with 18, and Kieran Barnes joined LaClair in double figures with 14 for Bethlehem.
Game two saw Mekeel Christian Academy erase a 10-point, second-quarter deficit to upend the host school, CBA, 72-60.
The Brothers got off to a hot shooting start as Matt Sgambati and JT Vogel connected on three-point field goals in the first few minutes, and CBA quickly raced out to a double-digit advantage at 13-3.
But the Lions countered with a steady paint attack orchestrated primarily by standout guard Terrance Clark, who unloaded for a game-high 30 points. He was responsible for tying the game up at 21 at the tail end of the second quarter.
CBA managed to close the quarter on a 7-2 run, punctuated by a last-second Sgambati lay-up off a steal at the other end of the floor, and the Brothers led 28-23 as the two sides retired to their locker rooms.
A high-scoring third quarter saw Mekeel Christian cut slightly into the margin. The Lions outscored CBA 22-21, and were faced with a four-point deficit heading into the final quarter, where they erupted for 27 points compared to the Brothers' 11.
Three more Lions found their way into double figures for scoring: Danny Bologna (12), Caleb Hussey (11) and Terrance Robinson (10).
Sgambati's 19 points paced CBA. He was followed on the score sheet by Aiden Wine and JJ Osinski who tallied 12 and 11, respectively.
La Salle (6-1) and Mekeel Christian (5-0) face off Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in the tournament championship game. Bethlehem (7-2) and CBA (3-3) will meet in the consolation game at 5:30.