It took a pair of wins in the Hoops for the Hospital Holiday Classic to get the West Genesee girls basketball team back above the. 500 mark before the bulk of its league schedule.
Yet a far more important game took place last Wednesday night, when the Wildcats ventured to Liverpool, the first time these two sides had met on the court since WG’s victory over the Warriors in last year’s Section III Class AA final.
Now, as then, the Wildcats prevailed, though its path to a 51-42 victory was a twisting one that featured a big first half from senior guard Mya Case.
With the rest of WG’s offense shut down, Case took over, notching 10 straight points in the second quarter to erase Liverpool’s early 15-9 lead. Ultimately, Case had 13 of her 17 points before intermission.
Up 21-18 at the break, the Wildcats would spend the entire second half nursing a single-digit lead. Any time the Warriors threatened to catch up, WG would answer, likely with something from the sister tandem of Mackenzie and Madison Smith.
Shut out in the first half, Mackenzie Smith answered with an 11-point second half. Meanwhile, Madison Smith steadily worked her way to 15 points, capped by a driving layup with 1:33 left that stretched the lead to 48-41.
Defensively, WG did a solid job containing Liverpool’s most dangerous player, Jenna Wike, holding her to nine points, something that teammates Kyra Grimshaw (12 points) and Lexi Emmi (11 points) could not quite make up for.
Nearly a week earlier, WG hosted Rochester Mercy (Section V) on Dec. 29 and held on to win, 63-60, with the Wildcats never able to pull away from the Monarchs after establishing a modest 35-31 halftime lead, but making a lot of key baskets down the stretch.
Mackenzie Smith did it all, from 24 points to eight assists, six steals and five rebounds. Madison Smith tacked on 16 points, six rebounds and three assists as Case got 12 points. Kaitlyn Walker had eight points and Catie Cunningham got five rebounds.
A day later at SRC Arena, WG’s defense featured in a 51-27 romp over Ithaca, the Wildcats never allowing the Little Red to have any organized surge and holding them to four points in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, Mackenzie Smith cooled off from her totals against Mercy, but still got seven points as Madison Smith earned 14 points. Walker stepped up to earn 12 points as Cunningham earned eight points and Case added six points.
During its run in the Hoops for the Hospital Holiday Classic, the West Genesee boys team went 1-1, starting with an impressive 55-52 win over Shenendehowa (Section II) on Dec. 29 where the Wildcats started the game on a 21-5 run.
Despite the Plainsmen eating away at that margin over the course of the rest of the game, WG stayed in front as Lucas Sutherland got 21 points, with Will Amica adding 17 points and John Benson contributing 13 points.
At SRC Arena less than 24 hours later, WG lost, 71-53, to another Section II foe, Shaker, as the Blue Bison overcame the Wildcats’ 36-34 halftime lead by controlling most of the last two quarters.
Before going cold in the late going, Sutherland managed 20 points. Amica gained 10 points as Jack McLane had eight points. Benson and Liam Barry had six points apiece.
When 2018 started, WG’s first assignment was hosting the undefeated, state no. 10-ranked reigning sectional champions from Liverpool, who moved to 8-0 by outscoring the Wildcats 90-73.
Having engaged in some memorable battles with Liverpool in recent years, WG did all it could to stun the Warriors, mostly keeping pace during a wild first half and only trailing 46-40 at intermission.
But the tempo took a tool, and Liverpool outscored the Wildcats 26-14 in the third quarter to get away. Still, WG got a tremendous effort from Lucas Sutherland, who poured in a career-best 37 points.
Jake Wager and Kam Jones offered help, with 11 points apiece, while McLane had 10 points. For Liverpool, Charles Pride led with 25 points, while Alan Willmes had 21 points. Nas Johnson had 15 points and Kyle Butler got 14 points.
Games with Corcoran and Fayetteville-Manlius are expected for both of WG’s sides after they got snowed out of last Friday’s twin contests against Henninger.
