Whether at home, or far away from there, girls basketball teams from West Genesee and Westhill tried to make major impressions during the holiday tournament slate, yet only found partial success.
In the Wildcats’ case, it meant going east to play in the Amsterdam Tournament against a pair of Section II opponents, starting last Thursday when it ran away from Saratoga Springs and beat the Blue Streaks 81-58.
From the outset, Kaitlyn Walker’s inside play and hot outside shooting from Madison Smith propelled WG forward as it worked toward a 44-29 halftime lead, getting further away from Saratoga as the second half wore on.
Walker finished the night with a career-best 22 points, with Madison Smith adding 21 points as Catie Cunningham produced 15 points and Mackenzie Smith chimed in with 12 points.
The game on Friday figured to get tougher as the Wildcats faced Shenendehowa, who on Dec. 22 had gone to Jamesville-DeWitt and upended the reigning three-time state Class A champion Red Rams.
Shen did even better against WG, beating them 62-29 in a game mostly marked by cold shooting. During the first three quarters, as the Plainsmen took control, the Wildcats only converted seven of its first 40 shots.
That drought continued most of the way against a stingy Shen defense. Mackenzie Smith led WG with nine points as Aleysha Castanon managed six points and Walker five points. Cat Almeida and Meghan Huerter led Shen with 19 points apiece.
Much closer to home, Westhill had a big early-season test on Friday against fellow Class B contender South Jefferson in the Hoops for the Hospital Classic.
The Warriors held off the Spartans 44-41, playing quite well in the first half as it built a 29-21 advantage and then hanging on with its defense when the attack went cold in the game’s latter stages.
Mackenzie Martin produced 14 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists as Jenna Larrabee had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Catherine Dadey (eight points) and Erica Gangemi (six points) helped out South Jefferson’s Alyssa Stevenson led her side with 19 points.
Westhill took on Nottingham Sunday night, and again it was close – but the Warriors lost, 57-55, to the Bulldogs, who trailed most of the game but then outscored Westhill 16-10 in the fourth quarter to inch in front.
Martin still had 20 points, with Dadey adding 14 points and Larrabee getting 11 points. Nottingham’s comeback was led by Amaya Williams, who poured in a game-high 21 points.
Bishop Ludden hosted its own holiday tournament that commenced on Saturday with a thrilling battle against St. Mary’s, from the Buffalo suburb of Lancaster.
The Gaelic Knights lost, 79-76, to the Lancers, who held on after building a 46-37 halftime advantage. Aurora Deshaies still had 25 points and Amarah Streiff added 21 points, with Karleigh Leo getting 10 points and Lauren Petrie eight points.
Now in Sunday’s consolation game against another Buffalo school, Sacred Heart, Ludden won 70-54, pulling away in the second half with Deshaies pouring in 29 points, helped by Petrie’s 14 points and Streiff’s 11 points. Leo gained eight points.
Solvay hosted its own Christmas Tournament, prevailing 47-29 over Mexico in the opening round as it broke out of a 14-14 tie by outscoring the Tigers 19-4 in the third quarter.
Haley Muehl led the Bearcats with 12 points and six rebounds. Allie Posnick and Carly Devereaux each had eight points, Posnick adding seven steals as Devereaux got four steals and four assists. Myah Plalter got seven points, eight rebounds and four steals as Brielle Bagozzi had six points and five rebounds.
Onondaga beat ITC/Fowler 59-14, so the final pitted OCS against Solvay. Against this other group of Tigers, the Bearcats had a different result, taking a 51-37 defeat.
It was a 15-5 second-quarter push that put OCS in control, the Tigers led by Macey DeOrdio, who poured in 22 points, and Riley Cox, who got 16 points.
Muehl still had eight points and 13 rebounds for Solvay as Posnick got 14 points, Gianna D’Agostino six points and Diamond Grant seven rebounds.
Jordan-Elbridge fell 58-32 to Class C contender Pulaski on Thursday, despite Ashlee Eaton’s 11 points and Jenna Melchior’s eight points. For the Blue Devils, Samantha Paternoster had 22 points and 13 rebounds as 1,000-point scorer Lauren Denny amassed 12 points, nine steals, seven assists and five rebounds.
