Two more victories last week kept the Westhill girls basketball team undefeated, but that was just part of the story.
When the Warriors beat Jordan-Elbridge 87-11 last Tuesday night, junior Anna Ross notched her 1,000th career point.
Entering the game, Ross had 971 points, and since the result was never in doubt, the game’s only suspense was whether Ross would reach that milestone as Shannon Bunce, seeing extended minutes, set her own career mark with 28 points and Sam Peebles added 17 points.
By recording 30 points, a new season high, Ross reached 1,000, and has a season and a half (assuming she stays injury-free) to add to that total while still displaying her trademark all-around game.
Two nights later, the state no. 2-ranked Warriors met Marcellus, and turned out to be a thriller for a long while before Westhill took charge in the late going and put away the Mustangs 63-45.
Inititally, the Warriors appeared to break out in the second quarter, doubling the Marcellus output (20-10) as it gained a 32-21 lead. But the Mustangs, with a well-balanced attack, ate into that deficit in the third quarter, and only trailed 45-38 with one period left.
However, the trio of Ross, Maggie Tripodi and Sam Peebles proved too difficult to slow down. Ross worked her way to 22 points, just ahead of Tripodi, whose 21 points included a trio of 3-pointers. Peebles chimed in with 16 points.
All of them topped the Mustangs’ top scorer, Tessa Mosher, who had 13 points. Lauren Soule earned eight points, with Molly MacLachlan held to seven points. Nicole Wynne and Meghan Witkowski had six points apiece.
Bishop Ludden made it three straight wins last Monday night, shutting down Chittenango for long portions of a 49-28 victory over the Bears.
From the start, the Gaelic Knights applied lots of pressure, and other than Kaitlin Antelmi (16 points), Chittenango could not handle it well. Steadily, Ludden doubled up on the Bears and led 32-16 after three quarters, settling matters.
Stephanie Brazell earned six of her team-high 13 points at the free-throw line. Kelly Granteed added 12 points, with Nicole Granteed managing nine points.
But a bigger test loomed Thursday night against Cazenovia, who sported an 8-2 record. Looking for four wins in a row, the Gaelic Knights instead slumped again, falling to the Lakers 50-30.
All game long, Ludden found itself unable to find any rhythm in the face of Cazenovia’s swarming defense. That led to a 23-14 halftime deficit, and the Lakers got away by outscoring the Gaelic Knights 16-7 in the third period.
No Ludden player scored in double figures, though Brazell (eight points), Nicole Granteed (seven points) and Kelly Granteed (six points) came close. Cazenovia’s Maggie Carpenter led her side, pouring in 20 points.
Marcellus, before it met Westhill, took a 53-36 home defeat to Bishop Grimes, mostly because of what took place in the first half.
The Cobras jumped all over the Mustangs, 15-8, in the first quarter, Jordan Vaught getting 10 of her 15 points in that frame. Then Vaught’s teammate, Tina Hoag, took over, piling up 14 of her 19 points in the second period as Marcellus trailed, 37-20, at the break.
Try as it could, the Mustangs had no response for those outbursts, despite 14 points (and three 3-pointers) from Molly MacLachlan and 10 points from Tessa Mosher.
Solvay also lost on Tuesday night, falling to Cazenovia 47-23. Under heavy pressure in the first half, the Bearcats only managed seven total points, giving the Lakers plenty of time to take control.
Julie Gardner would get most of her 11 points in the second half, but it was far from enough. Carpenter, with 22 points, nearly outscored Solvay by herself.
