It took a 6-0 start for the Christian Brothers Academy girls basketball team to earn a spot in the state Class A rankings at no. 22, still nine positions behind its neighbors from Jamesville-DeWitt.
That perfect mark was on the line last Friday night as the Brothers hosted 6-1 Chittenango, but once again senior Brook Jarvis, the program’s second all-time leading scorer, led the was as CBA beat the Bears 65-53.
It was junior Leana Heitmann making the first big push, her eight first-quarter points sparking a 10-0 run that gave CBA a 19-7 margin, which it would protect the rest of the way.
Every single time Chittenango put together any sort of run and threaten to make it close, the Brothers countered, usually with Jarvis and her strong moves to the basket.
This was especially true in the second half, when Jarvis amassed 20 of her team’s 29 points to put the game away. Other contributions came from Emily Hall, with seven points, and Maura Clare Conan, with six points.
J-D, back from a two-week break, also played on Friday against St. Mary’s, from the Buffalo area, and though short-handed, the Red Rams held off the Lancers 58-55.
It was tough enough facing a St. Mary’s side led by Syracuse University recruit Shay Cizeki, but doing so without Gabby Stickle made it more of a challenge.
Still, the Rams built a 32-25 halftime edge thanks to Momo LaClair’s 12 points, and did not flinch even when LaClair missed the second half due to injury.
Whether it was Paige Keeler (14 points), Sydney Baker (a season-high 13 points) or Andrea Sumida (nine points), J-D found other options in its attack and did enough on defense, even though Cizeki led all scorers with 21 points.
Fayetteville-Manlius would challenge unbeaten, state Class AA no. 14-ranked Baldwinsville last Thursday afternoon, and played on even terms most of the way – but never recovered from a rough start in a 50-36 defeat.
Showing that its 7-0 start was far from a fluke, the Bees jumped all over the Hornets and led 22-6 through one period.
Though F-M settled down, the deficit grew to 37-17 by halftime and top scorer Lexie Roe struggled against B’ville’s swarming defense, who held her to a season-low seven points.
Only Lily Fish, with 14 points, scored with any consistency for the Hornets as Sydney Huhtala (14 points), Alexandra Bednarczyk (13 points) and Katie Pascale (10 points) hit double figures for the Bees.
Bishop Grimes, who had beaten F-M on Dec. 29 at SRC Arena, took on 5-1, state Class A no. 16-ranked Whitesboro on Saturday and once again earned a valuable victory against a quality opponent.
The Cobras prevailed 56-54 over the Warriors, steadily gaining a 26-22 lead by halftime and then outscoring Whitesboro 20-12 in the third quarter to extend that margin.
Hanging on late, Grimes saw Rhonee Shea Pal set a career mark with 17 points, inclduing four 3-pointers, adding eight rebounds. Jenna Sloan had 15 points, with Naywel Ayeil also getting eight rebounds
Back from its holiday rest, East Syracuse Minoa took on Phoenix last Friday and rallied late to beat the Firebirds 44-42 and improve to 5-2 on the season.
Up 22-18 at halftime, the Spartans were outscored 14-7 by the Firebirds in the third quarter, but bounced back late to retake the lead, largely due to Angelina Polcaro.
All that Polcaro did was put up a career-best 20 points, hitting on four 3-pointers. Raychel Underwood helped out with eight points as Taylor Petrie (17 points) and Emma Clark (14 points) led Phoenix.
