At least on the surface, the Baldwinsville girls basketball team’s big moment of the week was supposed to be its key home game against Notttingham last Friday night.
But two nights before the Bulldogs arrived, the Bees had to deal with Auburn for a third time this winter – and it turned into a double-overtime epic full of remarkable performances before B’ville finally emerged with an 81-70 victory.
They had first met Dec. 4 at Baker High School gym, and the Bees won 66-56. A rematch came in the Dec. 28 final of the Vince Celi Memorial Tournament at East Syracuse-Minoa, and B’ville again came out on top, 68-54.
Both of those games, though, paled next to the third encounter, which had a bit of everything, including Auburn star Annie Giannone working her way past 1,000 career points – and nearly carrying her team to a bit of payback against B’ville.
Leading 15-8 after one period, the Bees mostly nursed that lead through the middle stages of regulation, only to see Giannone lead a furious Auburn comeback in the fourth quarter.
Going past that 1,000-point mark, Giannone and the Maroons went on a 17-6, including Giannone’s steal and go-ahead basket that made it 59-57 in Auburn’s favor before the Bees answered just before the fourth quarter ended.
So at 59-59 it went to overtime, and in those four minutes it was a 6-6 standoff. Thus, a second OT was required, and here Auburn wore out, B’ville going back to the lead and using a series of free throws to finally seal it.
The Bees had to overcome Giannone earning 39 points, plus eight steals and four assists, but did so with all kinds of contributions.
Hope DeFazio led with 27 points, adding six rebounds. Emily Pascale had 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds, while Rachael Miller put together 13 rebounds, six blocks and eight points. Kaylee Lammers had 10 points and Sarah Abraham gained nine points.
As this was going on, Nottingham took a 51-48, last-second defeat to West Genesee, adding to the urgency for both sides going into their Friday showdown.
But it was the Bulldogs getting the best of it, turning back the Bees 64-42. During the first half, Nottingham steadily built a 35-24 edge, and with B’ville tired from all it had done at Auburn, it found itself on the wrong end of a 17-4 third-quarter surge that settled matters.
DeFazio, with 11 points, and Abraham, with 10 points, still reached double figures, while Miller had eight points and seven rebounds. Pascale contributed seven points. On the Bulldogs’ side, Chayanna Canada scored 17 points as part of a three-pronged attack where Shauntesha Bryant and Necedah James earned 15 points apiece.
Meanwhile, B’ville’s boys basketball side returned to action after a 12-day rest at Nottingham, and lost to the Bulldogs 59-50 in a game where it led in the late going, but could not hold on.
Trailing 25-22 at halftime, the Bees (3-5) appeared to gain control when it outscored Nottingham 17-11 in the third quarter to take a 39-36 lead. That did not hold, though, as the Bulldogs’ pressure led to turnovers and baskets on the other end.
All told, B’ville got outscored 23-11 in those last eight minutes, negating a double-double from Devyn McLeod, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds. Cameron Skipworth added 12 points as, for Nottingham, Malik Zachery (17 points), Nathan Knight (13 points) and Henry Sullivan (11 points) led the way.
Each of the Bees’ sides face Central Square on Tuesday, and both of them take on West Genesee next Friday night.
