Almost from the moment their 2017-18 schedules were made known, the Westhill and Bishop Ludden girls basketball teams each understood just how important their only head-to-head meeting three days before Christmas might be.
Beyond the usual issue of bragging rights between two close neighbors, the fact that both teams had dominated much of their early-season opposition stressed that whoever won here would instantly earn the mantle of Section III Class B championship front-runner.
Ludden would spend last week on a trip to the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Florida, playing in the KSA Tournament.
In last Thursday’s opening round against Christian Cavalry Academy from Fort Lauderdale, Ludden prevailed 61-55, overcoming an early deficit by outscoring CCA 35-25 over the course of the second and third quarters.
What made it even more impressive was that the Gaelic Knights overcame an off night from Danielle Rauch, who was held to five points, though she added five assists and four rebounds.
Aurora Deshaies and Kayla Kibling each finished with 14 points, while Katie Costello got a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Amarah Streif had nine points and five rebounds.
In the semifinals on Friday, Ludden took on another Florida opponent, Colonial, from the Orlando area, and took a narrow 52-50 defeat, the game close all the way through as Colonial outscored the Gaelic Knights 17-13 in the fourth quarter to pull it out.
Karleigh Leo led Ludden with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Rauch again was contained, only getting 12 points, a total Deshaies matched.
So Ludden tried to salvage third place in its tournament bracket Saturday against Mainland, a Daytona Beach-based school, but lost, 61-54, to the Buccaneers, meaning that it returned from Florida with a 1-2 mark, but plenty of memories from the Disney experience.
Back in Central New York, Westhill went to 3-1 Hannibal last Monday night, and the Warrior clash was the toughest so far for Westhill, yet it still had reasonable control and pulled away late for a 63-42 victory.
Steady production helped Weshtill pull in front 33-24 by halftime. Hannibal hung within reach by having nine different players get on the scoreboard, led by Katie Pitcher, who had 14 points.
Still, Westhill got away as Mackenzie Martin’s 19 points included three 3-pointers, with Katelyn Karleski also connecting three times beyond the arc on her way to 16 points. Brigid Heinrich had eight points, with Erica Gangemi adding seven points.
Back home Thursday night, Westhill took on Chittenango, and defense helped the Warriors prevail 55-29 as it held the Bears under double digits in every quarter except the third, going up 29-13 by halftime.
Karleski’s trio of 3-pointers led to another 16-point outing as Martin chimed in with 10 points. Gangemi had seven points as Heinrich, Morgan Elmer and Imani Watts had six points apiece. Ally Shoemaker led Chittenango with 11 points and five rebounds
When Marcellus took its turn against Hannibal Thursday night, it lost, 50-35, gradually seeing the Warriors get away during the last two quarters after only trailing 23-18 at halftime.
Mei LaMarre led the Mustangs with 12 points, with Sarah Fallon adding six points. Kade DeMarle amassed nine rebounds as Sam Wynne got five points and four rebounds. Pitcher (15 points) and McKenzie Mattison (12 points) led Hannibal.
Jordan-Elbridge visited Phoenix last Friday night and lost, 43-32, with the Firebirds jumping out to an18-8 lead through one quarter and then nursing that double-digit margin most of the way.
The Eagles never let it get out of hand, but only Allison Jennings, with 13 points, hit double figure as Ashlee Eaton got six points. For Phoenix, Caitlyn Connolly had 13 points and Samantha Doupe added 10 points.
