Just at the right time, the Baldwinsville girls basketball team is whole again, and that simple fact might create an opportunity for the program’s first Section III title in two decades.
The return of Rachael Miller to the lineup came just in time for the no. 3 seed Bees’ Class AA quarterfinal against no. 6 seed Central Square, and her presence, combined with a well-timed second-half scoring outburst, produced a 54-37 victory over the Redhawks.
Miller, a 6-foot-3 senior center, injured her ankle Feb. 4 early in B’ville’s 52-42 loss to West Genesee. She had missed the rest of the regular season, watching as the Bees fell to Cicero-North Syracuse, but then beat Fayetteville-Manlius and Corcoran in the lead-up to the sectional tournament.
The two-week stretch on the bench was enough to heal Miller’s ankle, and now she was ready to try and help B’ville beat Central Square for a third time this winter.
Neither of those first two meetings with the Redhawks, won by margins of 48-44 on Jan. 13 and 62-51 less than three weeks later, were easy, and so it only figured that this encounter would prove challenging, too.
Though Katie Walsh got the start at center, Miller entered midway through the first quarter. With her team cold from the field at the outset and going nearly seven minutes without a basket, Miller hit a 3-pointer right before the horn, cutting Central Square’s early lead to 8-7.
Even as its offense continued to struggle in the second period, B’ville’s defense more than made up for it, forcing a string of Redhawks turnovers, and once again Miller hit a basket in the waning seconds, helping the Bees take a 16-13 lead to halftime.
Each side began to find a better rhythm early in the third quarter, but B’ville picked up full-court pressure, and it took a gradual toll.
It also led to the game’s decisive move, a string of four baskets and eight points in a 60-second span late in the period. Twice, Miller converted off turnovers, while Riley Carlucci and Emily Pascale also struck, and suddenly B’ville had a double-digit margin, up 35-22 with one period left.
By the time Central Square hit its next basket, B’ville had extended the run to 14-0, and Miller had worked her total to 13 points, in addition to six rebounds and four blocks. Walsh was even better on the glass, grabbing 15 rebounds.
And Miller was just one part of a well-balanced attack that sprung to life in the second half. Pascale, with 10 points, and Hope DeFazio, with 11 points, joined Miller in double figures, with Carlucci adding eight points and Kaylee Lammers six points. Schyler Laux led Central Square with 11 points.
Next Saturday at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena, B’ville will face no. 2 seed Rome Free Academy in the Class AA semifinals. The Black Knights, like the Bees, had to rally from an early deficit in its AA quarterfinal before getting past West Genesee 62-56.
Now RFA, with its 18-2 mark, and B’ville, with its 17-3 mark, will decide who gets to go back to SRC Arena on March 7 to face C-NS or Utica Proctor in the sectional championship game.
