Depending on where one looked, area girls basketball teams either flourished last week, or faced major struggles.
Bishop Grimes continued to handle its early-season competition, moving to 2-0 last Tuesday night when it hosted Marcellus and pulled away to beat the Mustangs 56-32.
A low-scoring game began to turn when the Cobras outscored Marcellus 14-4 in the second quarter. Then it kept adding to that margin late as Abby Wilkinson got 19 points, including three 3-pointers, and Bri Squier added 17 points as Rhonee Shea Pal had 10 points and Maria Naylor finished with seven points.
At Chittenango Thursday night, Grimes made it three in a row, its 55-28 win mostly keyed by a defense that would shut the Bears down for long stretches.
This was most important in the early going, as the Cobras raced to a 20-8 lead by the end of the first quarter. And even when things cooled off, the pressure put on by Grimes made sure Chittenango put on a sustained run.
The Cobras held the Bears’ top player, Ally Shoemaker, to five points and three assists, though she added five steals and four rebounds. Meanwhile, Squier (15 points) and Wilkinson (13 points) combined to match Chittenango by themselves, Naylor adding eight points as Jenna Sloan and Sarah Snavlin had five points apiece.
On Friday night, Fayetteville-Manlius squared off with Christian Brothers Academy, and the Hornets, on its home court, picked up its first win of the season, handling the Brothers 53-37.
Steadily, the Hornets built a 29-20 halftime lead, but couldn’t pull away until it outscored CBA 15-7 in the fourth quarter, led by Lily Fish, who amassed 17 points, 11 rebounds and four steals.
Alexis Schneider and Lexie Roe each got eight points, with Lexy Gray earning seven points and seven rebounds as Rebecca Sherwood also had seven points. Brooke Jarvis paced CBA with 12 points, ahead of Emily Hall (nine points), Maura Claire Conan (seven points) and Olivia Carni (six points).
F-M had opened its 2017-18 season at Oswego last Tuesday and fell to the Buccaneers 43-27.Oswego already had three games on its ledger, and its defense clamped down on F-M, never letting them reach double digits in any single quarter.
Only Roe, with 12 points, scored in double figures for the Hornets. Schneider added six points. Addy Benjamin paced the Bucs with 15 points.
CBA was 0-2 going into last Tuesday’s game at Solvay, but broke into the win column in a big way, routing the Bearcats 59-23 with a mid-game surge that included a 16-0 shutout in the third quarter.
Each of the 10 CBA players that saw action got at least two points. Jarvis, with 16 points, led the attack as Hall picked up 10 points. Hannah Brooks and Kaily Campbell had seven points apiece as Carni and Paige Alletzhauser each got five points.
CBA then made it back-to-back wins on Wednesday, visiting Cortland and handling the Purple Tigers 59-32 in a game that broke open when the Brothers put up a big second quarter, outscoring Cortland 24-10 in those eight minutes.
Jarvis continued to improve, running her total to 20 points, with Hall getting 12 points and Conan hitting three 3-pointers to account for most of her 10 points. Carni finished with nine points.
East Syracuse Minoa took a second defeat to Henninger in four days, a 50-17 loss where it was shut out in the second quarter and prevented from a comeback when the Black Knights outscored them 21-8 in the third period.
Holly Carr notched more than half the Spartans’ total, finishing with nine points, but only Taylor Filmer and Carina St. Andrews added field goals. Angelina Thomason got all three of her points at the free-throw line. Nijihonna McDaniel led Henninger with 11 points, 11 rebounds, seven steals and seven assists.
