A season ago, the Jordan-Elbridge girls basketball team surged into the realm of the local elite – and it plans to stay there for a while.
Despite having just one senior (Liz Caspari) on its roster, head coach Leslie Ahern’s Eagles went 16-6 in 2009-10 and made it all the way to the Section III Class B finals at Utica Memorial Auditorium before falling to South Jefferson in a narrow 42-37 decision.
Now, with the likes of Molly Hourigan, Amanda Wheeler, Kali Davis, Natalie Andrianos and Kelsey Richardson back, J-E intends to get back to Utica and win it all.
First, though, there’s the small matter of working through a tough OHSL Liberty division that got even tougher with the addition of Bishop Grimes into a league that already included the Eagles, Westhill, Cazenovia, Solvay, Bishop Ludden and Marcellus.
Quickly announcing its championship intentions, the Eagles hosted Skaneateles in Friday night’s opener and dominated right from the opening tip, not letting up until it had registered a 66-36 victory over the Lakers.
Effective on both ends of the floor, J-E cruised to a 20-6 lead by the end of the first quarter, then kept adding to the margin as it took a 38-15 edge to halftime. Though comfortably ahead, the Eagles were not content, closing on a 16-7 run and, literally, getting everyone involved.
In a rare feat, all 10 of the Eagles’ players got at least one field goal. That included Hourigan, the highly-recruited senior center, and Davis each finishing with 16 points as Andrianos chimed in with nine points. Wheeler, with seven points, and Erin McLaughlin, with six points, were close behind.
By contrast, the J-E boys basketball team, opening at home against Skaneateles, never got close in a 90-33 loss to the Lakers. It was all but decided in the first quarter, when Skaneateles jumped out to a 31-2 edge, then spent the rest of the night adding to the margin.
The Eagles, who went 8-11 a season ago, are playing a full-time OHSL Liberty schedule after years as an independent, and it proved a rough return. In defeat, Tyler Richardson led the hosts with 11 points and, though nine different players scored, no one other than Richardson had more than five points.
Skaneateles had Kevin Rice lead the way with 22 points as Pat Roberts, Brandon Barron and Zach Brownlee got 10 points apiece.
Both of J-E’s teams stay close to home this week for key league games against Solvay (Wednesday) and Marcellus (Friday).
