It didn’t take long for the COVID-19 pandemic to cast doubt upon the plans of area high school girls basketball teams.
In particular, Fayetteville-Manlius suffered setbacks as all three of its games last week were postponed, including its scheduled local showdown with Jamesville-DeWitt.
Thus, having waited longer than any of the other local teams to open, the Red Rams had to show more patience until, finally, on Thursday afternoon it saw game action against a Westhill side which had already played three times, going 2-1.
Making new head coach Kurt Sweeney’s debut a successful one, the Red Rams handled the Warriors 56-38, playing consistent, stingy defense while its offense centered around the work of Momo LaClair.
Nearing 1,000 points for her career, LaClair poured in 24 points, half of it from four 3-pointers as Lily Loewenguth contributed 11 points and Aniyah Neal finished with nine points.
And now J-D could turn its attention to Saturday’s game against Christian Brothers Academy, with both teams far removed from those that battled for the sectional Class A title a year ago.
But that made it easier for J-D, whose biggest drama in the 50-29 win over the Brothers was whether LaClair, now sitting at 988 career points, would reach her milestone.
Late in the game, Laclair did so, the 1,000th point sparking a celebration complete with balloons and banners as LaClair finished with 13 points, just behind Loewenguth’s team-high 15 points as Everly Kessler had eight points.
Any questions about the game’s outcome were settled when J-D outscored CBA 15-5 in the third quarter. In defeat, Amelia Bonacci paced the Brothers with 12 points
This followed Thursday’s “Holy War” involving CBA and Bishop Ludden, and in this instance it was the Gaelic Knights taking the upper hand in the rivalry, prevailing 60-39.
Building a 49-27 lead through three quarters, Ludden was again led by its 1,000-point scorer, sophomore Amarah Streiff, who had 24 points on this occasion as Kaitlyn Kibling added 11 points.
Amelia Bonacci had nearly half of the Brothers’ production, finishing with 19 points. No other player had more than Kailey Campbell’s total of six points.
Bishop Grimes attempted to recover from its Feb. 13 defeat to Bishop Ludden and nearly did so, at Marcellus, but fell 58-54 to the Mustangs.
All through the first half, the Cobras’ defense found it difficult to contain Marcellus, who built a 36-24 advantage.
Fighting back late, Grimes saw Naywel Ayeil earn 17 points, Jenna Sloan get 12 points and Rosalie Vincent pick up 11 points, with Althea Simmons adding nine points. Yet it wasn’t quite enough as Hannah Durand (20 points) and Katie MacLachlan (14 points) paced the Mustangs.
It took until Grimes’ third game of the season to reach the win column, which it did by getting past Syracuse Academy of Sceince 52-43 last Thursday afternoon.
Steadily, the Cobras gained a 33-22 advantage by halftime, and maintained it with a well-balanced attack. Aweil led with 14 points, Sloan adding 12 points and Simmons getting 10 points. Vincent had seven points and Natalie Musolino finished with six points.
Then Grimes prevailed again Friday, 42-31, over Cortland, doing most of its damage during a 20-7 second-quarter spurt that erased an early deficit to the Purple Tigers.
And it was Aweil accounting for more than half of the Cobras’ production, setting a career mark with 22 points, helped by Sloan’s 12 points and Simmons’ six points.
Right before it faced Ludden, CBA encountered Central Square last Wednesday and lost, 54-33, to the Redhawks, who used a 20-7 push through the second quarter to break an early tie and go out in front.
Emily Ball had 10 points for the Brothers, with Bonacci adding nine points. Campbell and Bailey Nichols each got six points as Morgan Ransom led Central Square with 14 points.
