BOYS’ BASKETBALL: WCV advances by beating M-PH

NEWPORT, N.Y. — This time, an 18-point lead was enough for the West Canada Valley Indians.

The Indians, who had blown leads that size in their final two regular season games, were pushed late Saturday but held on to beat Manlius-Pebble Hill’s Trojans 58-47 in the first round of Section III’s Class C playoffs.

West Canada Valley scored the first seven points of the first half and the first nine of the second. The Indians never trailed as they earned a quarterfinal trip to take on Sandy Creek Tuesday. They led 11-2 at one point and allowed just one field goal in the first quarter.

A 9-2 run in the fourth quarter put West Canada Valley up 46-28 following Bobby Davenport’s three-pointer with 4:18 left to play. The leads that had gotten away in games at Little Falls and Poland had peaked in the first halves and the clock seemed more favorable Saturday.

Then Manlius-Pebble Hill started its comeback. Dan Byrnes, a St. Lawrence University recruit who recorded a triple-double Saturday, scored 12 of his game-high 24 points in the final period and led the Trojan charge.

“Obviously our concern today was Byrnes,” said West Canada Valley coach D.J. Shepardson who scouted the Trojans’ final regular season game Monday. “We did a pretty good job of getting to the spot before he got the ball. …

“It was really important that I got to see them play. It gave us a chance to prepare for (Byrnes) inside.”

The Indians maintained a 12-point lead with 1:15 left to play but would see it cut to six on Byrnes’ final basket with 33.1 seconds on the clock.

Jordan Yaworski completed a perfect 8-for-8 day at the foul line with four free throws in the final minutes and Alex Williams added one for the final margin.

Williams notched a double-double with 12 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, and 13 rebounds. Yaworski led the Indians with 17 points, Davenport had 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals, and Mike Sternberg also grabbed eight rebounds.

Byrnes had 11 rebounds and blocked 10 shots in addition to scoring 24 points.

WEST CANADA VALLEY 58, MANLIUS-PEBBLE HILL 47

MANLIUS-PEBBLE HILL (13-6)— Joe Cerio 3 0-0 6; Duncan Morrison 2 0-0 5; Dan Byrnes 9 4-8 24; Chris King 2 0-0 4; Sam Woodward 0 0-2 0; Jon Cerio 3 1-2 8; Simon Bruno 0 0-0 0; Rex Lin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 5-12 47.

WEST CANADA VALLEY (15-4) — Bobby Davenport 6 2-2 15; Jordan Yaworski 4 8-8 17; Brandon Roberts 0 0-0 0; Ryan Grogan 0 3-6 3; Mike Sternberg 1 3-6 5; Josh Sudakow 1 2-2 4; Alex Williams 4 3-6 12; Ryan Moody 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 21-30 58.

Manlius-Pebble Hill 4 11 8 24 — 47

West Canada Valley 13 8 13 24 — 58

Three-pointers — Manliuus-Pebble Hill 4 (Byrnes 2, Jon.Cerio 1, Morrison 1); West Canada Valley 3 (Davenport 1, Williams 1, Yaworski 1).