A unique set of girls basketball games are in store this week among neighbors and rivals with plenty of recent history between them.
Westhill and Bishop Ludden would meet Monday night on the Warriors’ home court, and then reunite down the road on the Gaelic Knights’ floor Saturday afternoon
Before all this, Ludden and Westhill both had tough games last week, with the Gaelic Knights opening its season by fighting past Cazenovia 43-25 in Carm Petrera’s head coaching debut.
Knowing that it was going up against a stingy Lakers defense, Ludden cranked up its own pressure –and it proved effective, Cazenovia only managing seven points in the entire first half.
Even when the Lakers did find some baskets in the second half, the Gaelic Knights matched them, Aurora Deshaies earning 11 points to lead a well-balanced attack.
Lauren Petrie finished with eight points, while Grace Murry got seven points. Amarah Streiff and Kaitlyn Kibling had six points apiece as Lindsey Lawson got 10 points and Julia Bauder got seven points to pace Cazenovia.
Westhill, looking to recover from its Nov. 27 defeat to Skaneateles, would visit Bishop Grimes last Wednesday night, and broke into the win column with some strong play down the stretch to beat the Cobras 48-38.
The Warriors were controlling the game early until Jenna Larrabee went to the bench with three fouls. Then Grimes star Abby Wilkinson took over, her 13 first-half points helping the Cobras edge in front 20-19 by halftime.
Even when Westhill regained the lead in the third quarter, it had to work around Larrabee’s fourth foul and see Wilkinson keep her side close. Her fourth 3-pointer, which gave Wilkinson 26 points for the night, cut the Warriors’ lead to 40-37 with more than three minutes left.
But that was the Cobras’ last field goal of the night. Key defensive stops triggered an 8-0 run as Larrabee earned a pair of baskets, with Mackenzie Martin and Catherine Dadey also getting field goals.
For the night, Martin had 16 points, with Larrabee still managing 13 points and Dadey adding 10 points. By contrast, other than Wilkinson, no other Grimes player had more than five points.
Marcellus would get its first big test of the season Friday when it faced the same Skaneateles side that handled Westhill the week before. But the Mustangs passed it in a big way, defeating the Lakers 70-52.
Trailing 12-8 after one period, the Mustangs got red-hot in the second quarter, outscoring Skaneateles 26-10 to seize the lead. The Lakers did whittle the deficit to single digits before the fourth quarter, but the Mustangs still got away
Katie MacLachlan and Hannah Durand hit seven 3-pointers between them as MacLachlan had 22 points and Durand added 19 points. Sarah Fallon contributed 10 points.
And the Mustangs’ defense did a terrific job containing Skaneateles standout Olivia Dobrovosky, holding her to 10 points, the same total as teammates Chloe Metz and Maddy Ramsgard.
The Mustangs had ripped past East Syracuse Minoa 72-31 earlier in the week, with all eight players on its roster earning at least one field goal and a 37-10 first half setting the general tone.
Fallon led the way, earning 18 points, but Durand was close behind with 15 points as Katie MacLachlan got 12 points and Emma MacLachlan had 11 points. Kade DeMarle finished with six points.
Solvay got its first win of the season last Tuesday, topping ITC/Fowler 30-11 as it recorded a second-quarter shutout and then closed the game on a 14-3 run. Brielle Bagozzi had 10 points, with Myah Platler getting nine points and Allie Posnick adding six points.
Jordan-Elbridge also got into the win column, doing so last Wednesday with a 40-38 victory over Altmar-Parish-Williamstown where a a strong third quarter produced a 31-22 margin, and then the Eagles had to hang on late.
That J-E did so was largely due to the 21 points scored by Ashlee Eaton, which included 10 successful field goals. Kyler Langhorn had isx points and Megan Bard added five points.
That same APW side would beat Solvay 40-32 a night later by outscoring the Bearcats 19-6 in the fourth quarter, the Rebels’ comeback overshadowing the work of Platler and Posnick, who led the Bearcats with nine points apiece.
