Nothing for the Baldwinsville girls basketball team is going to get attained with ease as the Bees would try to catch West Genesee and Cicero-North Syracuse atop the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division standings.
Hosting Henninger last Tuesday night, the Bees were solid from the outset, but the visiting Black Knights hung close for a long while before B’ville put things away and won 64-49.
Steadily, as the Bees’ margin grew, Henninger tried to keep it interesting as Gjina Lewis finished with 16 points, with teammates Shynia Chandler and Tanyea Jansson adding 11 points apiece.
But Jenna Costello led B’ville to a win as she finished with 21 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Alena Criss had a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebound, while Meaghan Wilson had nine points and seven rebounds. Katie Pascale got seven points, five rebounds and four steals.
B’ville was expected to have an easier time in Thursday night’s game at Corcoran. Instead, the result was just about the same, a comfortable lead for most of the night and a late Cougars rally making it a bit closer, though the Bees still gained a 58-48 victory.
A steady effort on both ends allowed B’ville to lead, 30-19, by halftime. Then the margin grew in the second half before the Cougars made a belated push led by Tayahja Scott, who had 22 points, nearly half her team’s output.
The week would conclude with a Saturday-night visit from Fayetteville-Manlius, a game pushed back two weeks after a Jan. 5 weather postponement.
It would prove a frustrating night for the Bees, who lost, 54-52, to a Hornets side that had nearly upset defending sectional Class AA champion West Genesee the week before, but now was able to knock off a big-name opponent.
F-M broke out of an early tie by outscoring B’ville 17-12 in the second quarter. The second half turned into a tense, back-and-forth battle where the Bees almost caught up, only to see the Hornets maintain its poise in the face of relentless late-game pressure.
Criss led with 15 points, but nine of those points came at the free-throw line. Claire McAllister had 10 points as Pascale got nine points, with Brussel (seven points) and Costello (six points) close behind. F-M got 14 points from Lexy Gray, 13 points from Lexie Roe and 11 points from Alexis Schneider.
B’ville (11-3) will, on Friday, have its first of two regular-season encounters with West Genesee, in a game that was postponed Dec. 22, and before that take on Liverpool Monday to make up yet another snowed-out game from Jan. 12.
