All that the Bishop Ludden girls basketball team did to earn the top seed for the Section III Class B playoffs would not matter much if the Gaelic Knights could not make it through four rounds and emerge with the title.
It would start last Saturday, when the Gaelic Knights faced Marcellus in the round of 16 and steadily gained the advantage it needed in the first three quarters on the way to eliminating the Mustangs 64-43.
These teams had met on this same court Jan. 9, and Ludden prevailed 70-49. A month later, and with much higher stakes, Marcellus sought to make up some ground, and put up plenty of points in the first quarter, yet still found itself trailing 21-14.
Ludden shored up its defense over the rest of the afternoon and kept extending its margin, with the real surprise coming from Meg Sierotnik, who set a career mark by scoring 21 points, adding five rebounds and four steals.
Danielle Rauch fell two rebounds short of a triple-double, but still got 16 points, 10 assists, eight boards, three blocks and three steals. Two other Gaelic Knights had double-doubles as Aurora Deshaies got 12 points and 13 rebounds, with Ally Weigand getting 10 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mustangs got most of its production from two players. Liz White put together 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Eve Hughes had 19 points and seven rebounds.
Ludden shut out everyone else, limiting them to just one field goal, from Sydney Lewis, and earned a home sectional quarterfinal against no. 8 seed Utica-Notre Dame, who ousted Oneida 60-55. The winner goes to the semifinals against no. 4 seed South Jefferson or no. 5 seed Cazenovia.
Marcellus found itself having to win Thursday’s play-in game against Adirondack in order to get a shot at Ludden. And the Mustangs did so, getting away early in the second half to eliminate the Wildcats 58-36.
Even after scoring the game’s first five points and leading 15-7 after one period, Marcellus saw Adirondack go on a 9-2 second-quarter run to nearly erase that deficit. Right before halftime, though, the Mustangs reclaimed control, eventually going on a decisive 17-3 run that stretched deep into the third period.
The Wildcats had no answer for Hughes, who poured in 23 points and added seven rebounds. White got 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals as Lewis finished with 12 points, five steals and three rebounds.
Westhill, the defending sectional champions, started out as the no. 6 seed and would host no. 11 seed General Brown in its opening-round game last Friday night, mostly leaning on its defense to make the difference in a 50-37 victory over the Lions.
For a half, this game remained tight. Westhill’s offense struggled to establish itself, so it had to play hard on the other end to make sure General Brown didn’t get too established.
Thus, the Warriors could play poorly and still lead, 19-15, at halftime, leading to a pivotal third quarter where Westhill doubled its point total and extended its lead to 38-25, proving too much for the Lions to overcome.
Mackenzie Martin paced the Warriors with 18 points, while Katelyn Karleski had 13 points. With Morgan Elmer held to a single field goal, Brigid Heinrich stepped up, earning nine points as Erica Gangemi earned six points.
In Tuesday’s sectional quarterfinal, Westhill would travel to face no. 3 seed Hannibal, who got past Holland Patent 49-42 in its opening-round game but knew it would need to do better against its fellow Warriors if it wanted to reach the semifinals against no. 2 seed Bishop Grimes or no. 10 seed Phoenix.
In essence, Ludden got that no. 1 seed because it beat Hannibal 61-42 last Tuesday, elevating its record to 17-3 and ending the Warriors’ 14-game win streak. Prior to that, Hannibal was had not lost since Dec. 12, when Grimes beat them 55-39.
Against Ludden, Hannibal did lead 15-14 after one period, but the Gaelic Knights started to take control with a 22-point second quarter. Then it held the Warriors to four points in the third period to extend its lead to 48-31, and that was more than enough.
Rauch hit on four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points overall. Deshaies worked inside for 15 points, while Sierotnik stepped up for 12 points and Laura Patulski threw in 10 points. Most of Hannibal’s production came from Katie Pitcher, who had 20 points, and Sydney Alton, who got 15 points.
Before all this happened, Jordan-Elbridge, who fell one victory short of sectional qualification, did finish the season on a winning note last Tuesday night with a tight 56-54 victory over Cato-Meridian.
All game long, the two sides exchanged runs, but neither of them could get away. Up 33-32 through three periods, the Eagles withstood plenty of Blue Devils charges and stayed out in front.
Emily Somes led J-E with 15 points. Allison Jennings had 11 points, while Emily Klock got 10 points. Katie Goodrich added six points as the Eagles overcame a game-high 22 points from Cato’s Payton Noeller, with Cassie Chalon (11 points) and Hannah Keysor (10 points) in support.
