While the Solvay girls basketball team was attempting to turn its season around with success in its own holiday tournament, Jordan-Elbridge was trying to snatch the spotlight by winning that tournament’s first-place trophy.
The opening round got underway last Tuesday afternoon with J-E taking on Cato-Meridian. Thanks to a stirring fourth-quarter comeback, the Eagles pulled out a 52-48 victory over the Blue Devils.
Only 1-3 going into the tournament, J-E was held to 28 points in a Dec. 21 defeat to Oswego, but got 16 in the first quarter alone against Cato. But a drought late in the first half allowed the Blue Devils go in front, and it still led, 40-34, heading to the final period. At just the right time, though, the Eagles caught fire, outscoring Cato 18-8 in those last eight minutes.
Mostly, it was a two-player effort as Emily Klock poured in 24 points, nearly half her team’s total, while Emily Somes finished with 17 points. No other J-E player had more than four points, and it helped to overcome 26 points, nine steals and six rebounds from the Blue Devils’ Payton Noeller as teammate Cassie Chalon grabbed 15 rebounds and Hannah Keysor got 14 points.
The other opening-round game would pit Solvay against Henninger. Steeled by facing Class AA opposition, the Black Knights proved too much for the hosts to handle, handing the Bearcats a 65-35 defeat.
It didn’t take long for Henninger to take over, as it held Solvay to three points in the first quarter and built a 37-13 margin by halftime. Along the way, nine different Black Knights would score at least one point, with Shynia Chandler (20 points), Lindsay Morelli (14 points) and Gjina Lewis (12 points) at the forefront.
Meanwhile, the Bearcats scrambled for any sort of production it could find. Aleah Yaizzo, with 12 points, did get into double figures, with Marissa Grammatico gaining six points and Alicia Salvagni earning five points. Camille Devereaux had five rebounds to go with four points.
So it was Solvay against Cato-Meridian in the consolation game, and the Bearcats won, 49-39 despite a terrible start that saw it fall behind 18-7 in the first quarter.
Over the course of the next two periods, though, Solvay outscored the Blue Devils 31-11 and went in front for good. Yaizzo had 18 points, with Johnae Crenshaw adding 12 points and five rebounds and Hodge getting 11 points, five rebounds and five assists. Bagozzi was a defensive wonder with 15 rebounds and four steals that helped overcome Noeller’s 22 points, five rebounds and four steals for Cato and 16 rebounds from Chalon.
In the final that followed, J-E faced a big challenge against Henninger, and nearly conquered it – but a late surge allowed the Black Knights to edge the Eagles 47-43.
Much of the first half belonged to the defenses as neither side could put together any sort of run. Finally, in the third quarter, the pace picked up, J-E clinging to a 31-29 lead, only to see Henninger go in front in the final period and stay there.
Not only did J-E end up on the other side of a fourth-quarter rally, it also contrasted the Cato game with a more balanced attack. Allison Jennings led with 11 points, while Somes and Katie Goodrich had 10 points apiece. Klock was held to six points, but Bailey Van Gorden got eight points. Chandler paced the Black Knights with 16 points as Lewis added 11 points.
