ONONDAGA COUNTY –
At least until March, the East Syracuse Minoa girls basketball team had only played a pair of games, finally getting into the win column on Feb. 26 when it defeated the Oswego Buccaneers 45-37 in overtime.
Held to two points by Oswego in the second quarter, ESM fought its way back, tied the game 33-33 by the end of regulation and then dominated the Bucs in the four-minute OT period.
Angelina Polcaro and Raychel Underwood both hit a series of key free throws down the stretch, Polcaro finishing with 19 points and Underwood adding 15 points.
As a follow-up, ESM won 49-38 over Henninger last Monday night, jumping all over the Black Knights with an 18-5 push through the first quarter and never getting caught.
Julianna Barton, with 12 points, led a well-balanced attack. Lauren Rihinen chimed in with 11 points as Isabelle Chavoustie had nine points and Underwood got eight points. Kayla Worley led Henninger with 21 points.
When ESM jumped out 13-4 on Central Square last Wednesday night, the hopes for an upset went up, but the rest of the game belonged to the Redhawks as the Spartans lost 53-26.
Central Square outscored ESM 20-2 in the second quarter and kept pulling further away as the Red Hawks’ all-time scoring leader, Juila Mann, had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Polcaro (seven points) and Underwood (six points) were the Spartans’ top performers.
Playing again on Saturday, the Spartans fell to Cortland 46-32, this despite keeping the Purple Tigers in check early and getting a 9-4 lead through one period.
Kirsten Merritt (16 points) and Margaret Starr (13 points) helped Cortland control matters the rest of the way as, for ESM, Polcaro and Underwood led with eight points apiece.
Bishop Grimes needed a second-half rally in last Tuesday’s game against Homer to beat the Trojans 50-45.
Trailing 24-18 at the break, the Cobras made up that ground in the third quarter, then broke out of a 32-32 tie with an attack led once more by the duo of Jenna Sloan and Naywel Ayeil.
Between seven field goals and seven free throws, Sloan finished with 21 points, while Aweil got 14 points. The Trojans’ Gracie Patriarco led her side matching Sloan’s 21-point effort.
From there, Grimes went on to rip Tully 55-22 a night later, establishing a 33-8 lead by halftime as Ayeil nearly matched the Black Knights by herself, earning 20 points as most of Sloan’s 16 points came from four 3-pointers.
All of this was a prelude to Grimes’ challenge against undefeated Bishop Ludden on Saturday afternoon, and though it mostly kept pace with the Gaelic Knights, the Cobras were unable to overcome a poor start in a 56-42 defeat.
Ludden’s opening 18-9 push sustained itself the rest of the way as its 1,000-point scorer, Amarah Streiff, burned Grimes for 31 points. To lead the Cobras, Sloan got 13 points and Ayeil had 12 points.
Christian Brothers Academy remained winless, falling to Westhill 58-45 last Tuesday in a game where the Warriors’ 31-18 halftime advantage held up even as the Brothers’ attack warmed up.
Amelia Bonacci gained 13 points, with Gabby Nichols and Sidney Vaughn getting 10 points apiece. Emily Ball added seven points as Westhill’s Catherine Dadey proved tough to stop, amassing 26 points.
It proved close again on Thursday against Syracuse Academy of Science, but CBA lost 50-40 to the Atoms and followed on Saturday with a 44-34 loss to Chittenango, its 10th consecutive defeat.
