ONONDAGA COUNTY –
Six days had passed since the Baldwinsville girls basketball team saw Cicero-North Syracuse pull away from them in their long-anticipated rematch of the 2020 Section III Class AA championship game.
Now another high-profile opponent arrived at Baker High School Gym – Jamesville-DeWitt, who won a string of sectional and three consecutive state Class A titles the previous decade.
However, this Red Rams team was coming off back-to-back defeats, and the Bees continued that slide, getting away in the second half to defeat J-D 54-36.
Neither side was able to generate a sustained run during the first half. B’ville was able to endure those struggles and still take a 21-18 lead to the break.
Remaining stingy, the Bees held the Rams to seven points in the third quarter and continued to stretch out its lead behind a well-balanced attack.
Sydney Huhtala gained 14 points, with Hannah Mimas getting 12 points. Kyrah Wilbur finished with 10 points as Ola Bednarczyk had nine points and Gretchen Perine had six points. J-D’s Momo LaClair led her side with 11 points.
Up against Nottingham last Wednesday night, the Bees did a relatively good job on the defensive side, yet had all kinds of struggles on the other end to fall to the Bulldogs 49-39.
At first, it seemed like B’ville had weathered an early slump, rallying to tie Nottingham 22-22 by halftime as it centered its focus on containing the Bulldogs’ star senior, Amaya Williams.
But with enough help from her teammates, Williams and Nottingham regained the lead in the third quarter and, to keep it, limited the Bees to four points in the final period.
For the night, Williams had 21 points, aided by Nazjae Howard (10 points), Zyhona Glen (eight points) and Tayahja Scott (seven points). On the Bees’ side, only Huhtala, with 12 points, and Wilbur, with 10 points, got more than two field goals.
Then it was B’ville against Liverpool in a rematch of the Feb. 9 season opener, and the Bees roared back into winning form, pulling away to top the Warriors 69-47.
Gaining a 36-19 edge by halftime, B’ville saw Perine set a career mark with 16 points, just behind Mimas, who had 17 points. Wilbur added 11 points as Huhtala gained nine points.
This followed a Feb. 26 game against Henninger where Bednarczyk had 14 points as Huhtala and Mimas both gained 12 points. Perine and Jayda Pyle each had six points.
