They had to endure one more bout of bad winter weather before the girls basketball regular season ended and the Section III playoffs could get underway.
As high seeds in smaller brackets, West Genesee and Bishop Ludden could rest until this week’s quarterfinals, But the 19-team field in Class B meant that the other local teams all had to win at least once to keep their seasons alive.
Despite its SCAC Metro division regular-season title, WG still only got the no. 2 seed in AA as Cicero-North Syracuse gained the top seed. The Wildcats would host no. 7 seed Corcoran in the quarterfinals, the winner to get Liverpool or Baldwinsville in the semifinals.
As for Ludden, it did get the top seed in Class A, awaiting Tuesday’s quarterfinal against no. 9 seed Cortland, with the winner advancing to the semifinals against Indian River or Auburn.
Before all this, Ludden won its 14th in a row last Monday, outscoring Syracuse Academy of Science 78-61 as it bolted out to a 26-12 lead before the first quarter was done and didn’t get caught.
Aurora Deshaies notched 24 points, while Karleigh Leo hit three 3-pointers and burned the Atoms for 21 points and Lauren Petrie chimed in with 16 points. Amarah Streiff had eight points and Katie Costello got seven points.
By contrast, the Class B sectional tournament had 19 teams, but Westhill found itself the top seed, welcoming no. 16 seed Holland Patent Saturday after the Golden Knights knocked off Homer 68-38.
The Warriors faced some stress early, but took over in the middle stages, eventually outscoring HP 35-14 over the course of the second and third quarters on the way to a 53-37 victory.
Jenna Larrabee and Mackenzie Martin both earned double-doubles, Larrabee getting 18 points and 16 rebounds as Martin had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Catherine Dadey helped them with 15 points.
Marcellus had the no. 5 seed, and last Friday night hosted no. 12 seed Cazenovia, a team it beat 45-32 at Buckley Gym in January. Now on its home floor, the Mustangs saw everything turn around and its season ended in a 59-52 loss to the Lakers.
Cazenovia hung close throughout the first half and then, late in the third quarter, took charge, gaining a 40-36 lead. And the Lakers handled late-game pressure well, adding to its lead until Laura Connor’s 3-pointer with 1:30 left made it 54-44, a margin Marcellus could not overcome.
Katie MacLachlan had 15 points and Hannah Durand added 13 points. Cazenovia’s Lindsey Lawson made 13 free throws to account for half of her 26 points as Carleigh Szalach got 16 points.
This cost Marcellus a chance at a possible semifinal with Westhill, who would have its quarterfinal game Tuesday against no. 9 seed Skaneateles as the winner of that would get Cazenovia or Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
Before all this, Marcellus took a 56-35 defeat to Chittenango, unable to overcome a cold first half as it fell behind 31-16 and saw the Bears win its seventh in a row behind Ally Shoemaker’s 17 points, seven assists, seven steals and five rebounds.
Four Chittenango players – Shoemaker, Mekenzie Dahlin, Cassidy Kelly (12 points each) and Emily Moon (11 points) – hit double figures. Duran and Katie MacLachlan each had eight points, with Sarah Fallon and Emma MacLachlan earning six points apiece.
Two days later, Marcellus did prevail 52-36 over Fulton as it used a 21-5 first-quarter blitz to take charge early. Katie MacLachlan had 17 points, with Durand getting 10 points and eight rebounds. Fallon added eight points and eight rebounds.
Solvay had to win one of its last two games just to get into the sectional field, and in its first attempt last Monday lost, 48-32, to Homer, despite Allie Posnick’s 14 points, seven steals and four assists. Myah Platler had eight rebounds to go with six points as Diamond Grant contributed nine rebounds.
One more attempt came on Wednesday, but Solvay was denied by Skaneateles 50-26, unable to overcome a rough first half where it fell behind 32-7. Platler did finish with 11 points and four rebounds.
Jordan-Elbridge, who would miss the sectional tournament, lost 52-43 to Cato-Meridian, Cassie Chalon scoring 25 points for the Blue Devils as Ashlee Eaton paced the Eagles with 15 points, helped by Ella Bard and Megan Bard, who each had eight points.
A 65-31 defeat followed to the same Cazenovia team that would meet Marcellus later in the week in the sectional playoffs. The Eagles trailed 40-14 as the Lakers got 23 points and 10 rebounds from Lindsey Lawson. Eaton had nine points for J-E.
