Even as it barreled toward a perfect 20-0 regular-season mark, the Canastota girls basketball team heard enough doubt being expressed about the level of competition it had faced to get that mark.
So when the Section III Class B-2 playoffs got underway, the Raiders were bent on showing that it could elevate its level of play even further.
Real proof came in Tuesday night’s B-2 quarterfinal against no. 8 seed Hannibal, where the Raiders continued to dominate — but brought a new twist to the proceedings as it beat the Warriors 54-25 for its 21st win in a row.
To say that Canastota’s well-regarded defense was ready for the playoffs was understating it. In the entire 16 minutes of the first half, all Hannibal could manage was a single free throw.
The Raiders’ pressure never let up, from the opening tip onward, as Hannibal’s first field goal came in the third quarter, after a 27-1 margin had been secured.
That was one part of the story. The other involved how Hannibal paid a steep price for ganging up on Canastota’s 1,000-point, 1,000-rebound star Liz McGinley.
McGinley had just eight points — but that left teammate Alicia Hibbard wide open all night, and she didn’t hesitate.
Between eight field goals and seven successful free throws, Hibbard finished with a career-best 23 points, nearly matching Hannibal by herself. Hibbard got ample help from Shea Foster, who earned 11 points. Hannibal’s Taylor Sorrell had 17 second-half points.
For the B-2 semifinals Friday at Jamesville-DeWitt, Canastota draws no. 4 seed General Brown, from the Frontier League, who took out Adirondack 45-44 to get this far. The winner goes back to J-D next Tuesday at 6 p.m. to face Sherburne-Earlville or Clinton for the B-2 championship.
