Make that 22 wins in a row for the Canastota girls basketball team, who now sit on the brink of a Section III Class B-2 title.
For the B-2 semifinals Friday at Jamesville-DeWitt, Canastota drew no. 4 seed General Brown, from the Frontier League, who took out Adirondack 45-44 to get this far.
Still as stingy as it had been all season, the Raiders never let the Lions get too close, proving especially tough in the middle stages of a 45-24 victory.
A steady and productive attack helped Canastota quickly seize the lead, but it got even better when it held General Brown to just four points in the second period, so that it had a 27-11 lead going into the break.
Even though the Raiders’ offense cooled off a bit in the second half, it kept on playing tight, physical defense and protected its margin well.
Alicia Hibbard, the offensive hero in the Raiders’ quarterfinal win over Hannibal (she had 23 points in that game), had 13 rebounds on this night.
On the offensive side, as Hibbard got just four points, Liz McGinley and Shea Foster both worked their way to 15 points, with Foster hitting the game’s lone 3-pointer and McGinley tacking on 13 rebounds, plus five assists. Alexis Havens ended up with six points, six rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
Canastota, with a 22-game win streak intact, now clashes with no. 2 seed Clinton (who beat Jordan-Elbridge and Sherburne-Earlville to get this far) for Tuesday night’s B-2 final, also at J-D. The winner goes to Utica Memorial Auditorium this Saturday for the overall Class B title game against South Jefferson or Cazenovia.
