Put to an early test, the West Genesee girls basketball team demonstrated plenty of resolve with a second-half comeback in last Tuesday’s 55-47 victory over Rome Free Academy.
Like so many other opponents eager to knock off the three-time defending sectional Class AA champions, the Black Knights were energized in the first half and worked its way to a 28-20 lead.
Regrouping, the Wildcats made up most of the deficit in the third quarter and, still trailing 38-36, outscored RFA 19-9 in the final period, finally clicking in all phases of the game.
Carrying the attack, Catie Cunningham poured in 28 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Eight other WG players got at least one field goal, with Molle James (seven points) and Molly Coyne (six points) providing the chief support.
This was quite a contrast to the Nov. 30 opener, where the Wildcats romped past Utica Proctor 62-22 as Cunningham had 21 points, with Coyne and James earning nine points apiece.
The weekend provided WG with a trip to the Buffalo area to face a pair of Section VI teams, starting on Friday when it faced the Amherst Tigers and made it three in a row with a 66-48 victory.
An early 19-9 lead nearly disappeared by halftime, but the Wildcats reclaimed control in the third quarter and pulled away behind 16 points from Cunningham and sophomore Molly Benetti, while Coyne gained 10 points.
Then, against Frontier on Saturday, WG won again, 48-32, this time showcasing its defense as it was close until the third quarter, when the Wildcats outscored the Falcons 14-5.
Best of all, WG showed it didn’t need Cunningham’s production since Julia Logana led with 15 points. Cunningham still had eight points, a total Benetti matched.
Meanwhile, Bishop Ludden moved to 2-0 last Tuesday by routing Phoenix 60-30, the game settled early as the Gaelic Knights outscored the Firebirds 22-3 in the first quarter and breezed from there.
Amarah Streiff nearly matched Phoenix by herself, earning 24 points as fellow freshman Keiara Odune got 12 points. Kaitlyn Kibling added eight points.
Ludden rolled again Thursday at Mexico, topping the Tigers 57-41. That margin was deceptive since the Gaelic Knights steadily built a 55-19 margin through the first three quarters before resting its starters.
Streiff, for a while, was outscoring Mexico by herself and finished with 22 points. Lauren Petrie had 11 points, with Odune adding 10 points.
On the other end of the spectrum, there was Jordan-Elbridge overwhelmed by Homer in last Wednesday’s 96-31 defeat, the Trojans scoring 34 points in the first quarter to offset the Eagles’ own strong start.
Kyler Langhorn did get 12 points to lead J-E as Ashlee Eaton added nine points. To lead Homer, Sarah Sovocool had 27 points, with Gracie Patriarco adding 22 points.
Solvay was another area girls basketball team to win its season opener last Friday night, going to Altmar-Parish-Williamstown and taking out the Rebels 39-28.
Holding APW to four points in the second quarter, the Bearcats took a 24-14 halftime advantage, only to see the Rebels make up most of that deficit before getting limited to just two points in the final period.
Through it all, Tazz Pitts was Solvay’s most consistent force, finishing with 17 points. Help came from Olivia Petralito, who added eight points as the Bearcats would take on Henninger and Bishop Grimes this week.
