Though many local high school athletes saw their schedules blown up by winter weather and school closings, the Baldwinsville girls basketball team didn’t fall into that category. Instead, the Bees’ problem was a schedule with wide gaps between games.
After sweeping to the Bill Middleton Tournament title on Nov. 28-29 and giving long-time head coach Kathy Morse her 300th victory, B’ville did not play again for 12 days, and the monotony of practices can only reveal so much. So the Bees were quite glad to resume game action last Thursday night, hosting Auburn at the Baker High School Gym, and despite its closest call so far, B’ville would improve to 3-0, using a big third quarter to pull away for a 51-35 victory over the Maroons. Applying plenty of early pressure, the Bees nearly doubled Auburn’s total in the first quarter and seized a 19-10 lead, only to have the Maroons chip away during the rest of the half, leaving B’ville clinging to a 27-23 edge at the break. The way the half ended did not sit well, and B’ville took out that frustration in the third period, playing some of its best all-around basketball of the season while outscoring the Maroons 18-5 and putting the game away. All game long, the Bees concentrated its defense on Auburn’s star guard, Anna Giannone, and it proved effective, as it held Giannone to just four points. Meanwhile, Hope DeFazio, with 13 points, led a well-balanced B’ville attack. Rachael Miller earned 12 points and eight rebounds, while Emily Pascale picked up six assists and seven boards to go with her 12 points. Kaylee Lammers drove Auburn crazy with her six steals, part of an effort that included eight points, four rebounds and four assists, with Riley Carlucci matching Miller’s total of eight rebounds and Katie Walsh picking up seven rebounds. Now the Bees had to wait again for more than a week before action resumed – but once it does, B’ville will remain active, visiting Corcoran next Friday and hosting Henninger on Dec. 23 before its much-anticipated trip to a tournament at the Disney Wide World of Sports Complex, the team departing for Florida Dec. 26.