In what proved to be an eventful Friday night in local girls basketball, Bishop Ludden took a serious hit in its quest to catch Westhill atop the OHSL Liberty division standings, a week before the two neighbors were to meet. Hosting Marcellus on Friday night, the Gaelic Knights saw the Mustangs in a 61-54 decision.
They went back and forth all night, the Gaelic Knights leading early, Marcellus rallying to go in front 31-26 by halftime, then Ludden coming back to forge a 41-41 tie going to the fourth quarter. Refusing to surrender, the Mustangs would win the fourth quarter 20-13, getting at least six points from six different players for the night, with Kate Gosson (17 points) leading the way. Ludden, by contrast, had just five different players convert field goals. Roesch led both sides with 21 points as Bella Knapp (13 points) and Kayla Kibling (11 points) both stepped up. They had to, since Ashley Cianfriglia, who had 30 points earlier in the week against Jordan-Elbridge, cooled off with just six points, all from a pair of 3-pointers. While all this was going on, J-E was keeping itself above the .500 mark, going to Solvay and earning a 45-32 victory over the Bearcats. Solvay didn’t even score in the first quarter, as the Eagles raced out to a 13-0 lead. The Bearcats somehow recovered and pulled within three, 27-24, by the end of the third period, but J-E would have the final surge. Liz Caspari, with 14 points, led a deep J-E attack where Kelsey Richardson earned eight points and Katie Dungey added seven points. Molly Hourigan and Aimee Briggs each got six points. Tessa Pucello, with 20 points, accounted for most of Solvay’s production.