When the Baldwinsville girls basketball team entered the Vince Celi Memorial Tournament at East Syracuse-Minoa, it was trying to bounce back after back-to-back defeats to Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool before the holiday break –and it would prove successful in that quest.
Against Whitesboro in Friday afternoon’s opening round, the Bees would get that recovery, relying on a big second quarter and hanging on at the end to beat the Warriors 55-47.
Only up by one through one period, B’ville outscored Whitesboro 19-10 in the second quarter. And it maintained a steady margin until the final period, when the Warriors inched back within four, 50-46, with a minute to play.
But B’ville hung on, though, behind some key defensive stops and clutch free throws from Hope DeFazio, who made four in a row in that final minute on her way to 13 points overall.
Rachael Miller got close to a triple-double, managing 10 rebounds and 14 blocks to go with her eight points, as Emily Pascale managed a team-high 14 points. Sarah Abraham had eight points, as did Kaylee Lammers, who got key baskets down the stretch whenever Whitesboro threatened. Maria Lapertosa led the Warriors with 17 points.
B’ville drew Auburn in the finals Saturday after the Maroons took down host East Syracuse-Minoa 53-41 in the other part of the opening round. This was a rematch of a game back on Dec. 4 that the Bees pulled out by a 66-56 margin.
The rematch, as it turned out, wasn’t much different, with the pace again quick – and the Bees again triumphant, getting away in the third quarter and eventually stopping Auburn 68-54.
Hot early shooting from the Maroons put the Bees behind for most of the first half, but it produced enough to keep pace and only trailed by two, 32-30, going to the break.
Then, led again by the trio of Miller, DeFazio and Pascale, B’ville erupted in the third quarter, outscoring Auburn 24-10 as its pressure took a toll and, defensively, it did a good job of containment on Maroons star Annie Giannone, who only managed 12 points, barely half her total from the win over ESM the day before.
DeFazio, named the tournament MVP, would finish with 20 points, just ahead of Pascale, who had 17 points and five assists, and Miller, who backed up her 16 points with nine rebounds and seven blocks, joining DeFazio and Pascale on the All-Tournament team.
Lammers again finished with eight points as Riley Carlucci got six points and Katie Walsh contributed seven rebounds.
With those wins, B’ville improved to 7-2 as it hit the midway point of its regular-season schedule and prepared for a four-game homestand that would include a third encounter with Auburn Jan. 7 and a big encounter with Nottingham on Jan. 10.
