By Kim J. Harmon

George Zaruba was one of the most dominant players in the Rising Stars Summer Basketball League but even he wasn’t dominant enough to lead Syracuse past Villanova in the championship game Friday night at Treadwell Park.

Zaruba canned 20 points to lead all scorers, but ‘Nova grabbed the trophy with a 50-46 come-from-behind win.

The playoffs had been a pretty tense affair, with both semi-finals going down to the final possessions but Syracuse – a 57-55 winner over Duke in the semis – looked ready to turn the championship game into a laugher by jumping out to a 14-2 lead in the first half.

‘Cuse was up 9-0 (thanks to a pair of free throws and a field goal by Zaruba) before ‘Nova finally stopped the bleeding. But then Mason West canned a long jumper and tossed in a three to put ‘Cuse ahead by 12.

Then ‘Nova – a 55-54 winner over UConn in the semi-finals – started to rally.

After Sam Kerr drained a three-pointer, Andy Lapple popped in a free throw, Adam Buccino tossed one in on a drive to the basket and Max Paynter had a steal and a drive to the hoop the Syracuse lead had been cut in half.

The rally lost a little steam, though, as Zaruba canned a pair of baskets and went 3-for-3 from the foul like to put the Orangemen back up by nine, 23-14. But the Wildcats rallied again and it started when Lapple rolled in a basket and added a free throw. Buccino popped in another basket (off a nifty give-and-go with Jeff Spencer) and added a pair of free throws and when the half finally ended, ‘Cuse was clinging to a 25-21 lead.

Grant Braun gave the Orangemen a little lift at the start of the second half with a free throw, but the ‘Cats had the momentum and after Paynter hit a pair of baskets and a free throw it was ‘Nova which was on top for the first time.

From that moment, though, the game became a back-and-forth battle with Syracuse going up as much as three points and Villanova going up as much as six. Zaruba had 10 points down the stretch to power Syracuse and key buckets by Shane Walsh, Molly Mahony and Alyssa Finkenstadt bolstered that effort, but ‘Cuse simply could not hand on.

Lapple canned back-to-back baskets (one a three-pointer), Paynter dropped in a three-pointer and Kerr added a basket on the drive and with just a few minutes left to play Villanova was clinging to a 46-43 lead.

Ben Mahony scored on the inside to trim the lead to one but Spencer quickly answered to put ‘Nova back up by three, 48-45. Syracuse got a point back when Grant Putnan canned a free throw but ‘Nova iced it when Lapple popped in a pair of free throws to end the game.

Paynter had 14 points to pace Villanova and Kerr added 11. Lapple tossed in eight, Spencer added six, Buccino contributed five and Matt Hoffmann added two. In the semi-final win over UConn, Paynter canned 19 points (with a pair of threes) while Kerr had 13. Also on hand for the Wildcats in the championship game were Nora Murphy, Meghan Condon, Griffin Paynter, Jermaine Ortiz and Stephanie Clavette.

After Zaruba’s 20, ‘Cuse got five points each from West and Walsh and four from Ben Mahony. Zaruba had 21 to lead Syracuse past Duke in the semi-finals while Putnam tossed in 10. Trevor Todd and Wurtz had four points each and Evan Trianfilidis tossed in a three-pointer.