In shaping its schedule for 2016-17, the Westhill girls basketball team did not duck any possible challenge.
The Warriors’ first tough stretch had commenced on Dec. 2 with a fourth-quarter comeback required to beat Hannibal. And it would continue into last week when Westhill would have to deal with Syracuse Academy of Science and Indian River.
SAS, who reached last March’s Section III Class B final before falling to Cooperstown, was the first obstacle, and the Warriors faced the task without junior forward Morgan Elmer in the lineup.
Still, Westhill beat the Atoms 63-48, relying on toughness and proper offensive execution to overcome a string of turnovers and missed free throws that plagued them throughout the night.
When it still had a chance to exploit those errors, SAS stayed within range, only trailing 19-15 late in the first half before the Warriors put together its decisive run, an 18-2 burst that bridged the second and third quarters.
Mackenzie Martin led the charge, using her inside presence to convert some baskets and alertness on inbounds passes to score several other times on her way to 26 points. Both Martin and Katelyn Karleski, with 16 points, made sure that Elmer’s absence didn’t hurt too much as Jenna Larrabee had nine points and Erica Gangemi added eight points.
Meanwhile, SAS’s talented junior guard, Lyrik Jackson, proved dazzling as she kept the game from getting too far out of hand. Jackson finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, but just three different Atoms had field goals as Xy’el Bradford (12 points) and Diamonne Harris (four points) provided the rest of the offense.
This led to an intriguing Saturday game against Indian River, a perennial Class A contender, who was 2-3. But those three defeats were games the team had forfeited for using an ineligible player. Were it not for that, IR would have carried a five-game win streak into the game.
Elmer was back – but Westhill still lost this Warrior clash 66-54, in large part because of the way the game got started.
It was almost like Westhill needed the first quarter to warm up, and by that point IR had a 20-8 lead. Try as it could, the visitors couldn’t cut into that margin, ultimately trailing 50-33 before making up some ground in the final period.
Through it all, Martin was sensational, piling up 29 points, including three 3-pointers, while Karleski had 12 points and Gangemi seven points. Elmer managed five points.
IR’s top player, Paige Leonard, nearly got a triple-double thanks to 22 points, nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals, and got help from Nia Gray, who had 18 points and six rebounds, and Marian Borce, who got 15 points, nine assists and three rebounds.
In between these games, Bishop Ludden, who was waiting for its shot at Westhill on Dec. 21, pounded the combined ITC/Fowler squad 85-14 last Thursday night, a game that included a 29-0 romp through the first quarter.
It was 54-7 by halftime, and the Gaelic Knights got to see everyone on its roster play extended minutes. Five players scored in double figures, led by Danielle Rauch, wh o had 19 points as Meg Sierotnik contributed 17 points. Karleigh Leo had 13 points as Aurora DeShaies and Laura Patulski got 10 points apiece and Taj Huddleston earned nine points.
Ludden only has one more game, on Friday night at Pulaski, on the schedule before going face-to-face with Westhill, who had to go to CBA on Monday night before a Thursday-night trip to Solvay.