On Friday night, each of West Genesee’s basketball teams met up with Henninger, splitting those results.
At home, the girls Wildcats, coming off a 54-52 loss to Auburn on Tuesday, rebounded and made Senior Night a winning one as it beat the Black Knights 69-49 to improve to 13-5.
Steadily, WG worked its way to a 39-27 halftime edge, and kept on piling up baskets, mainly through a two-way attack.
Alyssa Sutherland had 22 points, but the real story was how Kotula stepped up. Constantly getting open and constantly converting, Kotula set a career mark with 20 points, with Lacomb (seven points) and Carly DiCocco (six points) offering further help.
Meanwhile, the boys Wildcats went to the city’s north side to face defending Class AA champion Henninger, and two big runs from the home team made the difference in a 62-47 loss to the Black Knights.
Coming off its second loss of the season to CBA, Henninger bolted out to a 20-8 first-quarter edge. WG (7-10) made up half that deficit in the second quarter, closing it to 28-22 at halftime, but a 22-10 third-quarter blitz kept the Black Knights in control.
Jack Conboy, with 11 points, led a balanced Wildcat attack where Colin Monroe had 10 points, while Conor Regin and Eric Spencer each had nine points. Greg Wadach added six points. Henninger saw Kihary Blue produce 10 points and 10 assists as Christian Smith led with 19 points.
Both Wildcat teams meet Henninger and Nottingham this week before the Section III Class AA playoff pairings get announced on Sunday afternoon.
