Baldwinsville — When it charged down the regular-season homestretch with four consecutive wins and grabbed the no. 3 seed for the Section III Class AA playoffs, the Baldwinsville girls basketball team had to feel good about the chance of getting all the way to the Feb. 28 title game at SRC Arena.
For one thing, the Bees had beaten each of the three teams – Liverpool, Fayetteville-Manlius and West Genesee – in its half of the bracket. Also, undefeated Cicero-North Syracuse was in the other half, so B’ville didn’t have to worry about them until the finals.
Despite all of these advantageous circumstances, though, the Bees would not make it past Wednesday night’s quarterfinal, done in by no. 6 seed Liverpool as a furious, spirited effort fell short in a 69-59 defeat to the Warriors.
They had split their regular-season games, B’ville winning early in December, but Liverpool countering a month later with the presence of two key players (Jenna Wike and Kyra Grimshaw) who weren’t in the lineup for that first meeting due to injury.
Now the Bees and Warriors would battle through a close, fast-paced first half. Liverpool led, 16-11, through one period, but led by Emily Pascale, who scored nine of her 17 points in the second quarter, B’ville surged in front, 29-25.
But Grimshaw turned the game around, netting eight points, including the last four of the half, to put the Warriors ahead for good, 31-29, by halftime. Energized by that surge, Liverpool led by as much as 11 in the third quarter before the Bees fought back and got within five, 46-41, early in the final period.
Then it was Wike’s turn. Having scored 12 fourth-quarter points to rally her team past B’ville 54-48 in their last encounter, Wike again saved her best work for the homestretch, including a 3-pointer that sparked a pivotal 12-2 run.
continued — That helped stretch Liverpool’s margin to 58-43, and even when the Bees, thanks to a barrage of 3-pointers, got back within seven, 66-59, Wike’s pair of free throws helped seal it.
Of Wike’s 23 points, 11 of them came in the final period as Grimshaw (17 points), Drew Dufrane (14 points) and Trisha Lane (10 points) also hit double figures.
Pascale augmented her 17 points with six rebounds and three assists, while Riley Carlucci gained 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Carolyn Brussel put together 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists as Kaylee Lammers also had 10 points. B’ville’s season ended with a 14-7 record.