Things have improved for the Marcellus girls basketball team enough that it can make a serious challenge to the likes of Westhill.
Those two neighbors clashed last Wednesday night, and instead of the usual one-sided affair, the Warriors had to work hard to build a comfortable lead before hanging on late to beat the Mustangs 61-49.
What happened in the game’s middle stages proved decisive. Westhill outscored Marcellus 34-20 over the course of the first and second periods, building upon a quick start and giving itself a large cushion against a late Mustangs push.
More importantly, the Warriors’ trio of veteran players all came through. Morgan Elmer led with 19 points, including three 3-pointers, but Mackenzie Martin balanced it out in the paint, earning 18 points, and Katelyn Karleski poured in 17 points.
By contrast, Marcellus leaned too much on Liz White, who, with 32 points, accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Mustangs’ point production. White added three rebounds and three assists as Sydney Lewis finished with eight points and five rebounds. Eve Hughes had six rebounds, but was held to a single field goal.
Marcellus went from here to visiting Jordan-Elbridge on Friday night, and it proved a tough one, but the Mustangs’ defense would hold up in the second half and produce a 45-39 victory over the Eagles.
A great 18-7 start by Marcellus got erased when J-E outscored them 16-4 in the second quarter. From there, though, J-E would struggle to find baskets, at least aside from Alexis Braun, whose 20 points led both sides. Emily Klock finished with six points.
The Mustangs were far from potent in the last two periods, but it did enough to get through because it had two dependable scoring threats. Hughes earned 17 points, while White cooled down from her Westhill effort, but still got 15 points.
Before all this, Westhill was still celebrating coach Sue Ludwig’s 500th win in a thriller over previously unbeaten South Jefferson the day before. Maybe that had something to do with a 55-42 defeat to Bishop Kearney at SRC Arena in the championship game of the Hoops for the Hospital Tournament on Dec. 29.
Held to seven points in the first quarter, the Warriors did move within four, 25-21, by halftime. But that was the team’s lone surge, Westhill unable to break through Kearney’s relentless defensive pressure on a consistent basis.
And while Katelyn Karleski finished with 14 points and Morgan Elmer (whose last-second 3-pointer beat South Jefferson) added 12 points, the Warriors saw Kearney contain Mackenzie Martin, holding her to nine points.
In other “Hoops for the Hospital” tournament action, Marcellus, who lost a narrow overtime decision to rival Skaneateles on Dec. 28, came back a day later and, in overtime, pulled out a 76-71 victory over Holland Patent.
The Mustangs had led, 26-14, at halftime, only to see the Golden Knights erupt in the third quarter for 28 points, tripling its total. That ate up most of the deficit and, by the end of regulation, HP caught Marcellus and, at 63-63, sent it to OT.
With a four-minute OT period, the Mustangs regrouped and outscored HP 13-9 to pull it out. Sydney Lewis had 24 points, hitting on four 3-pointers, while White dished out 12 assists to go with 18 points and five rebounds. Hughes (who scored 34 points against Skaneateles) put up 16 points here, adding seven rebounds. For the Golden Knights, Ally Livesey had 22 points and McKenna Williams contributed 19 points.
Before facing Marcellus, J-E dropped a close 58-55 decision to Moravia on Dec. 29 when it was unable to hold a lead it held most of the game, the Eagles outscored 23-14 in the fourth quarter. Alexis Braun had 16 points, with Emily Klock adding 12 points and Emily Somes earning 10 points. Annie Altwarg had six points.
But the Eagles won its first game of 2017 with relative ease, routing Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 68-32. Things broke open in the second quarter, when J-E outscored the Rebels 17-6, creating a 31-16 halftime margin that more than doubled by game’s end.
At the forefront of the Eagles’ charge was Allison Jennings, who poured in 24 points by hitting on 11 field goals, one of them a 3-pointer. Braun was solid, too, earning 12 points as Klock and Altwarg got eight points apiece. Somes had seven points and Ella Bard chimed in with six points.
