When the month of February started, the Westhill girls basketball team understood that a path to any kind of grand success this season lay through Cazenovia.
Twice, the Warriors tried to solve the Lakers’ riddle. Twice, it got turned back, once through surrendering a 10-point lead at home Feb. 1, the other time in a one-sided loss at Buckley Gym 12 days later as the regular season ended.
Now comes a third chance — in the Section III Class B-1 semifinals Friday night at Jamesville-DeWitt, with the winner to face South Jefferson or Bishop Ludden for the B-1 title next Tuesday in that same J-D gym.
Westhill comes into the Cazenovia game with its offense back in top form, having dismantled no. 6 seed Marcellus 79-48 in Tuesday night’s B-1 quarterfinal.
At 13-7, the Mustangs were far from an overmatched opponent. But Westhill had practiced hard in the 10 days since that defeat at Cazenovia and were not about to let anyone stand in the way of another shot at the Lakers.
To that end, the first quarter was vintage Warrior basketball, with heavy defensive pressure translating into turnovers and lots of baskets on the other end. This 25-4 blitz all but decided the outcome before eight minutes had elapsed.
Though the defense would ease up, the offense did not, as Westhill set a new season mark for points in what it hoped was a warning signal to the big foe laying ahead.
Cooper hit on four 3-pointers on her way to 28 points, one of her best totals of the season. Inside, O’Connor produced 16 points, with Emily Haggerty’s 10 points including a pair of 3-pointers. Melissa Lee and Kate Gosson led Marcellus with 10 points apiece.
As this was going on, Cazenovia was dismissing Solvay 60-30, giving Westhill the stage — and opponent — it wanted to beat the most.
