Having conquered opponents both at home and its three-game December sweep in Orlando, Florida, the Baldwinsville girls basketball team now intended to solidify its place atop the area Class AA ranks.
A key step in this process arrivedThursday afternoon when, in its first test of 2020, the undefeated, state no. 14-ranked Bees hosted 4-2 Fayetteville-Manlius.
If there was any possibility of complacency, B’ville wiped it all away during a dominant first quarter that set the tone for an eventual 50-36 victory over the Hornets.
Going in, the Bees knew that, against F-M, the key was stopping junior guard Lexie Roe, who this season had averaged better than 23 points per game.
Concentrating its defense on Roe, B’ville proved quite effective. All that Roe could manage was seven points, and her teammates could not pick up that slack, with only Lily Fish (14 points) hitting double figures.
Besides, most of that production came after the Bees had charged out 22-6 in the first quarter, converting F-M turnovers into baskets on a regular basis.
Up 37-17 by halftime, B’ville cruised the rest of the way, Sydney Huhtala leading with 14 points. Alexandra Bednarczyk earned 13 points and Katie Pascale got 10 points, with Jordan Roy adding nine points.
Earlier in the week, the Bees, in its first game since returning from the Florida trip, visited Utica Proctor, where with steady production it got away to beat the Raiders 57-32 for its eighth win in a row.
As she had done many times before, Pascale paced the attack, putting in 18 points. Roy got 12 points, while Huhtala finished with 11 points and Bednarczyk had eight points.
B’ville seeks its 10th win in a row Tuesday against Liverpool at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall (where the Warriors are playing home games this winter while its gymnasium is renovated) before returning home next Friday to face Henninger.
