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The Rivalries That Define Section III Boys Basketball

High school sports are all about competition, and in Section III boys basketball, rivalries take center stage. These matchups aren't just games—they're events that bring communities together, ignite passion, and test the mettle of players on both sides of the court. At The News Pulse's winter sports media day, we asked Section III boys basketball players which opponent they were most looking forward to playing this season. Their responses revealed a deep-seated excitement for these annual showdowns.

Key Matchups Players Can’t Wait For

Altmar-Parish-Williamstown

For players from Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, the cup game is always a highlight. Gabe Basciani from Pulaski described it as “always a fun one. Everyone’s there. Energy’s great.”

Belleville Henderson

Belleville Henderson players have their own share of intense rivalries. Cooper Kaplan from Lyme admitted, “We’re rivals. I’m gonna be honest, sometimes we don’t get along, so we’re always gunning for each other.” Zxylan Them from Thousand Islands added, “We’re pretty evenly matched, so I think it’s going to be a good game.”

Bishop Ludden-Grimes

Players from Bishop Ludden-Grimes are eager to face off against Grimes. Gino Bullock from CBA noted, “(Jahzar Greene) is one of the best point guards in the section right now. I’m looking forward to the challenge.” Miy’Jon McDowell Reid from C-NS said, “They have some guys that really compete hard and are always ready to play.” Alex Trombley from Liverpool added, “They beat us last year and I don’t know, I feel like we gotta get that back.” Ahmed Jusu from SAS simply said, “Just a rivalry game. It feels good to play them.”

Cato-Meridian

Mason Kocur from Weedsport highlighted the intensity of the matchup against Cato-Meridian, saying, “They’re one of our big league rivals. It’s always a tough game playing against them.”

Christian Brothers Academy

Edmond Richardson from Cazenovia expressed his desire to finally beat Christian Brothers Academy after four years of varsity basketball. “I’ve yet to beat them all four years of varsity basketball. So that’s definitely circled on my calendar. It’d be nice to get a win there,” he said. Christopher Hermitt from Mexico added, “I have an AAU teammate that I played with who plays there and I think it’ll be the most fun. And they also have a sophomore, I think, who’s really good. So I’m excited to play them, see what they have.”

Cicero-North Syracuse

Gavin Knuth from F-M mentioned, “We got to play them last year. ... We’ve had a couple good matchups with them.”

Cooperstown

Landon Bregou from Faith Heritage emphasized the importance of the matchup: “We play them near Christmas at home. This will be a great game. We lost to them early last year and I think — I know we can beat them. And if we come out strong and play our game, I think we’ll handle them easily.” Kyrie Anderson from Utica Notre Dame added, “We see them as our sectional championship game.”

Copenhagen

Spencer Olivia from Sackets Harbor described the rivalry with Copenhagen as something long-standing. “We know all the Copenhagen boys and it’s always been a rivalry.”

Corcoran

Datavion Pertilla from Auburn said, “Last year, they got us. We’re looking to come back again.” Kzar Greene from OnTECH added, “Just competitive. They like to talk a lot, so I want to play them.”

Cortland

Benny Wilbur from Homer said, “We lost them three times last year and they’re our crosstown rivals. So that’s really the team I’m looking forward to beating.”

Fabius-Pompey

Max Crawford from Manlius Pebble Hill said, “I’m just excited to play Fabius because, you know, we don’t play them a lot.” Sean Mize from Tully added, “They have really been like, a rival for us, like, our entire career, so we’re just looking to beat them.”

Faith Heritage

Howard Wright IV from Onondaga said, “I’ve never beaten them. It’s a long lifetime rivalry with them. So that’s the game I’m looking forward to.”

Fulton

Mason Hurst from Watertown said, “They’re one of the harder teams in our class and they’re a tough team and last year we lost pretty good. But I think that’s a good game where we can prove ourselves.”

Hamilton

Tomek Jusianiec from Sherburne-Earlville said, “I think that’ll be a good matchup for us.”

Homer

Cal Albright from Cortland said, “It’s got to be them. Beating them three times last year. Crosstown rival. It’s always a good matchup and fun to play.”

Indian River and Watertown

Phillip Norgaisse from Carthage said, “Obviously, they’re rivals, but those teams are thinking that they’re going to beat us just like how they did last year. And with that attitude that they have, we’re going to come in and show them.”

Jordan-Elbridge

Mason Corlis from Chittenango said, “We played two games last year against them. They’re a little chippy. It was fun.”

Little Falls

Carl Pace from Herkimer said, “We lost to Little Falls three times last year, so that’s going to be — I kind of can’t wait for that one.”

Liverpool

Mike Virginia from Baldwinsville said, “A lot of friends on that team I’ve been playing with since like travel ball, AAU. So I’m excited to play them.” Jahzar Greene from Bishop Ludden-Grimes added, “They always give us good competition. Love their intensity. They play till the buzzer goes off.”

Lowville

Zack McDougall from Fulton said, “They’re the first on our schedule, and I just want to take it one game at a time.”

Marcellus

Chris Nichols from Solvay said, “Marcellus is a good test or a good team. It’d be a good test for the team to see where we’re at in the season, see how we’re doing and what we could get better at throughout the season.”

McGraw

Rob Turshman from Cincinnatus said, “Because we played a few times during soccer season.”

New Hartford

Nico Lupia from Whitesboro said, “Just because we have, like, that hometown rivalry. Rivalry is always a fun game. Everyone, all the fans come out. It’s usually a great game, too.”

New York Mills

Eddie Wright from Oriskany said, “It’s always been a rivalry, so it’s always a fun game.”

Nottingham

Anthony Bryant from ESM said, “Nottingham is becoming like a rival to us, I feel. We’ve been going at it since last year, a lot.” Stephen Bazile from J-D added, “Last year, we suffered two bad losses to them and that really hurt. I want to get those two wins back or at least one win from them, so I really want to get that one.” Musbah Ahmed from West Genesee added, “Looking at the paper, they look pretty good. Hopefully, we got them.”

Oneida

James Ward from VVS said, “Always a rivalry game. Always a close game in the TVL, of course. So that should be a great game for us. Good competition. Ready to take back the record that’s ours.”

Oriskany

Evan Saxton from Westmoreland said, “We lost to them once close and once by a big margin last year. We beat him in the summer league, but I think that’d be a big prove-it game for us if we end up winning that one.”

Oswego

Sinceer King from PSLA @ Fowler said, “In summer league, you know, they got the one up on us. I feel like we could have done better in that game. We didn’t play very good.”

Pulaski

Jacob McDonald from A-P-W said, “They’re our rivals and we lost to them last year for a big trophy. We have this Grant Jones Dagger Cup thing. It’s kind of like a small school thing, but we’re just looking forward to winning this year and getting it back.”

Rome Free Academy

Calvin Jacquays from CVA said, “I really want to beat RFA. We haven’t beaten them in a while at the program and I think we kind of have a shot.”

Skaneateles

Eli Bailer from Phoenix said, “They took us out last year in the semis — semis or the quarters. That’s my get-back game.”

Syracuse Academy of Science

Krim Doka from Citizenship and Science Academy said, “We have huge backstories of us being sister schools and stuff.”

Town of Webb

David Valasek from West Canada Valley said, “They always bring it. They don’t like us.”

Tully

Wyatt Esposito from Fabius-Pompey said, “They’re the team. Our rival, always been our rival. And they have a solid team. So I’d like to see what we could do against them this year.”

Vernon Verona Sherrill

Zach Odom from Camden said, “Long-time rival. It’s just always fun playing against them. It’s always a scrappy matchup.” Ryan Cashman from Oneida added, “We lost to VVS in football. I’d like to get back in basketball this year.”

Waterville

Dylan McGetrick from Cato-Meridian said, “We lost to them the past three years. Every year in the sectionals, it’s been like semifinals every single year. Three years in a row. We took a hard loss. Last year was probably the closest game. ... Definitely when the playoffs start, they’re definitely on my mind.” Jeffrey Knight from Clinton added, “It’s always a good game. Their parents are always yelling at us. Our parents are yelling at them. It’s a good game. It’s at Hamilton College. We want Waterville.”

Weedsport

Dylan McGetrick from Cato-Meridian said, “We always had, like, a little rivalry.”

West Genesee

Bol Garang from Nottingham said, “They beat us in the sectional final last year, so we’re gonna get our get back on them.”