It didn’t take long for opponents of the Fayetteville-Manlius girls basketball team to find that it isn’t wise to leave sophomore guard Lexie Roe any open looks.
Nearly carrying her side, Roe helped the Hornets prevail in last Thursday night’s season opener at Rome Free Academy, a tough battle that F-M claimed 54-46 over the Black Knights.
RFA had already played twice, finishing second in the Nov. 23-24 Bill Middleton Tip-Off Tournament at Baldwinsville, yet that didn’t keep F-M from steadily building a 47-35 lead through three quarters.
Before cooling off late, Roe hit on 12 field goals, four of them 3-pointers, and finished with 29 points overall. Help came from Ava Angello (nine points) and Lily Fish (six points) as Kelsey McCaskill paced the Black Knights with 13 points.
That same night, Christian Brothers Academy opened against reigning two-time sectional Class AA champion West Genesee and led at halftime before things fell apart late in a 57-34 defeat to the Wildcats.
Whether it was opening-night nerves or just solid work from CBA’s defense, WG went cold in the second quarter, held to five points, which allowed the Brothers to seize a 25-20 lead going to the break.
Then it all turned in the third quarter, and while the Wildcats’ pressure picked up and stifled CBA throughout the second half, the Smith sisters caught fire,
Madison Smith hit six 3-pointers to account for most of her 23 points as Mackenzie Smith connected three times beyond the arc on her way to 18 points. Help came from Aleysha Castanon, who hit a pair of 3-pointers and finished with nine points overall.
Standing out for CBA, Skye Ryan finished with 14 points, while Brooke Jarvis and Emily Hall finished with seven points apiece.
Having dropped its season opener Nov. 24 at Indian River, Bishop Grimes met with far more success in last Tuesday’s home opener, putting together a 55-36 victory over Phoenix in its only game last week.
Much of that margin was established during the first quarter, when the Cobras’ pressure led to baskets and it outscored the Firebirds 23-10 to set the night’s tone.
Abby Wilkinson finished with 20 points to lead Grimes, while Jenna Sloan had 10 points. All told, 10 different Cobras players got on the scoresheet, while only five did for Phoenix despite the game-high 21 points from the Firebirds’ Taylor Petrie.
East Syracuse Minoa had its opener with Mexico last Tuesday snowed out, and moved to Jan. 2, the winter weather already causing havoc with the schedule before the calendar hit December.
But the Spartans did play Friday against Onondaga and struggled for baskets in a 33-25 defeat to the Tigers. And OCS won despite ESM holding them without a point in the fourth quarter.
A 14-5 third-quarter push by the Tigers put it out of reach for ESM, as only Angelina Thomason (nine points) and Holly Carr (five points) had more than one field goal. Macey DeOrdio amassed 17 points to lead OCS.
