Even after that big win last Monday over Westhill, the Bishop Ludden girls basketball team could not relax, having to face Bishop Grimes last Thursday night – and sure enough, the Gaelic Knights had enough of a letdown to take a tough 46-44 defeat to the Cobras.
It took more than four minutes for Ludden to earn a field goal. Grimes had its own issues, but with back-to-back 3-pointers from Katrina Fandrich and Jordan Vaught, the Cobras grabbed a 17-9 lead early in the second quarter.
Ludden countered with a 10-0 run, but Grimes absorbed it and, by the third quarter, had reclaimed a 29-22 lead. Making things worse for the Gaelic Knights, Danielle Rauch picked up her fourth foul and went to the bench.
Despite this, Ludden battled back again, relying on its defense to frustrate Grimes and hold them without a field goal for more than four minutes in the fourth quarter. With a banked-in 3-pointer from Rauch and a free throw from Nicole Granteed, the Gaelic Knights moved ahead 39-38.
Now they traded big plays – Katy McInerney hitting a 3-pointer for Grimes for a 41-39 lead, Granteed converting a three-point play seconds later to put her side back up 42-41, and Marissa Hartley answering with her own three-point play with 1:27 left. This left it 44-42 in the Cobras’ favor.
And then it got crazy.
After a Granteed free throw with 47 seconds left cut the margin to 44-43, Grimes was unable to add to its slim lead and, with 13 seconds left, Rauch was fouled. But she missed both foul shots.
Immediately fouled with 10.2 second to play, Vaught made her first free throw but missed the second. Again, Grimes fouled Vaught, who made her first foul attempt – but missed the second.
Now it was Vaught’s turn to go back to the line, with 5.4 seconds to play. Like Rauch, she only made one of the foul shots, taking the margin back to two, and off the miss, Granteed took the ball and, while driving to the basket, drew a foul with 2.1 seconds left.
With a chance to tie it, Granteed missed the first free throws, and her deliberate miss on the second shot led to a Ludden lane violation and turnover. Grimes was able to run out the remaining clock and escape with the win.
Megan Costello led the Cobras with 13 points. Ludden, despite 11 points apiece from Rauch and Granteed, ultimately paid for all of its misses at the charity stripe, making just eight of 21 attempts in the fourth quarter and 12 of 29 overall.
As that went on, Westhill rebounded from that Ludden loss to beat another close neighbor, Solvay, 66-32, breaking it open by shutting out the Bearcats 15-0 in the second quarter and overcoming 21 points from Chelsie Delperuto, most of it in the game’s latter stages.
Anna Ross, for her part, managed 19 points, while Sam Peebles gained 15 points. Delaney Martin avoided the foul trouble of the Ludden game and had six points to go with 12 rebounds as Mary Kate Washburn stepped up for 10 points.
A night later, Marcellus was back in action, hosting Phoenix, and with tremendous balance and a superb all-around effort from Molly MacLachlan, the Mustangs smashed the Firebirds 61-36.
Not wasting any time, Marcellus (who will face red-hot Skaneateles on Wednesday) opened the game on a 21-5 run, and extended the lead to 36-14 by halftime, watching as MacLachlan accumulated nine points, eight steals, five rebounds, three assists and three blocks.
Shelby Nye and Morgan DeLand led with 11 points apiece, but Rylie Spicer was close behind as she earned 11 rebounds to go with her eight points. Meghan Witkowski and Lauren Soule also got eight points as the Mustangs improved to 5-3.
Jordan-Elbridge remained winless, giving up 32 unanswered points to Skaneateles in the first half of last Thursday’s 50-28 defeat to the Lakers.
The Eagles then fell to Cazenovia 47-24 a night later, the game in some doubt despite J-E getting shut out in the first quarter before those other Lakers closed on a 19-5 run. Alexis Rouse had 12 points, double the total she had against Skaneateles.
