Most of the excitement in area high school girls basketball involves Jamesville-DeWitt beginning the defense of its state Class A title with several players back from that long-awaited championship breakthrough.
As a rousing opening act, J-D will host a tournament Saturday and Sunday with three statewide powers visiting the area. The Red Rams will meet Bishop Kearney Saturday night at 8:15 in the opening round after Albertus Magnus faces Cardinal O’Hara at 6:30. The consolation and championship games are Sunday, starting at 11:30 a.m.
A year ago, J-D beat Christian Brothers Academy in the sectional Class A semifinals. Now, having seen four starters (Rosalee Winderl, Paige Nicholson, Natalie Nardella and Kate LaCasse) graduate from that squad, the Brothers expected some early-season difficulties.
Sure enough, CBA dropped its opener at Central Square, falling 36-33 to the Redhawks. This happened despite Central Square going without a field goal in the second quarter, notching just a single free throw. Still, CBA only had a 12-10 halftime edge, and Central Square came to life in the third quarter, outscoring the Brothers 19-11 and taking the lead for good.
In defeat, Victoria Hall paced the Brothers with nine points. Nafysa Williams, CBA’s lone returning starter, had eight points, with Brooke Jarvis adding seven points. Julia Mann led Central Square with 11 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals as Breanna Ransom added 10 points, four rebounds and three steals, with Maddie Besaw adding eight points, six rebounds, five assists and five steals.
After all this, CBA had to come home Thursday and deal with Bishop Ludden, a top Class B sectional contender. The girls version of the “Holy War” was decided early as the Brothers were overwhelmed by the Gaelic Knights in a 76-22 defeat.
Right from the opening tip, it was clear that the Gaelic Knights were in top form, combining stingy defense with a prolific attack as it built a 25-7 edge by the end of the first quarter. Little changed for the rest of the half, and by the time it reached the break, Ludden had a 51-12 edge.
It got to 70-17 before Ludden let up in the fourth quarter, having seen Danielle Rauch and Aurora Deshaies nearly match CBA by themselves, finishing with 21 points apiece. Laura Patulski, with 18 points, was close behind, while Meg Sierotnik had 12 points. No one on the Brothers had more than the five points put up by Emily Hall and Brooke Jarvis.
East Syracuse Minoa missed the sectional Class A playoffs a year ago, but got off to a better start this season, mostly leaning on its defense to take last Tuesday’s season opener over the Mexico Tigers 36-19.
Slow out of the gate, the Spartans only had two points in the first quarter, but held Mexico to four. Gradually, the pace picked up, but it was the third period that made the difference as ESM outscored the Tigers 16-3 in the game’s lone scoring burst.
Brigid McGinley, with 11 points, led a balanced Spartans offense, with Sam Valentine contributing 10 points and Loren Clifford adding nine points. No one on Mexico’s roster had more than Bailey Wills’ total of six points.
Looking for two in a row Friday night, ESM went to Homer and never recovered from a rough first quarter in a 68-44 loss to the Trojans.
During those first eight minutes, the Spartans fell behind, 25-5, and though it closed the gap to 30-19 by halftime, Homer stayed out in front thanks to 16 points from Shawnessy Earle and 14 points from Caley Cornwell. McGinley led ESM with 16 points of her own as Clifford, Holly Carr, Taylor Filmer and Rose Garris got six points apiece.
