Early in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s Section III Class AA quarterfinal, things were falling into place for the Baldwinsville girls basketball team – or at least it seemed that way.
The no. 5 seed Bees had gone back and forth with no. 4 seed Utica Proctor most of the way, but were tied with the Raiders. What was more, Proctor was appearing to lose its poise thanks to a pair of technical fouls.
But instead of boosting B’ville, all it did was force the Raiders to refocus – which it did, overcoming a big night from Kaylee Lammers and, by a 63-50 margin, bringing an end to the Bees’ season.
In a sense, the entire game reflected B’ville’s season, with stretches of strong play interrupted by lulls that came at the wrong time.
During a low-scoring first quarter, the Bees’ defense provided an anchor, containing Proctor as it got a 10-7 lead by the end of the period thanks to back-to-back baskets from Claire McAllister.
The pace didn’t quicken during the second period, and Proctor, sensing this, inched in front, 18-17, by halftime as Janasha Holmes converted on consecutive field goals, and the Raiders also got the first seven points of the third quarter.
Now it was B’ville’s turn to surge. A trio of 3-pointers by Lammers restored her team’s lead, and from there it was, again, a tense exchange that lasted until the end of the quarter, where the Bees found itself clinging to a 38-37 edge.
When Proctor got hit with those technical fouls, Lammers took four free throws – and made them all, tying it 42-42. This was part of a night where Lammers finished with 24 points, nearly half of B’ville’s total.
Proctor wasted little time recovering from those technical fouls. Led by Da’Janay Miller-Peak and Ariannah Stanton, the Raiders outscored the Bees 21-8 the rest of the way, with Miller-Peak working her total to 20 points and Stanton gaining 13 points, just behind Achol Ajang, who had 14 points.
No one on B’ville’s side got close to matching Lammers’ totals. Carolyn Brussel did have 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while McAllister had eight points, five rebounds, four steals, two assists and two blocks. But Katie Pascale was held without a field goal and Jenna Costello had just one basket all night.
As Proctor moves on to try and end top seed West Genesee’s 17-game win streak in the sectional semifinal Sunday at SRC Arena, the Bees finished at 14-7, having enjoyed great experiences like the December trip to the Walt Disney World complex in Florida.
Lammers and Mackenzie Schaffner are among the graduating seniors, but plenty is expected to come back in 2017-18, including the likes of Brussel, Pascale, Costello, McAllister, Meaghan Wilson and Elena Criss, all trying to end a sectional title drought that stretches back to 1995.
