ONONDAGA COUNTY – Kathy Morse was born into a coaching family as the daughter of John Arcaro.
And for more than two decades, Morse has authored her own storied career coaching girls basketball and soccer at Baldwinsville. Her two children both coach, too, with son Brett Charbonneau leading the JV boys basketball team at B’ville.
This remarkable legacy produced another milestone Friday night as the girls basketball Bees defeated Liverpool 65-53 and, by doing so, helped Morse earn her 400th career victory on the hardwood.
All of it was essentially decided in the game’s opening stretch, when B’ville jumped out to a 17-3 lead, forcing the Warriors to spend the rest of the game in a chase that proved futile.
And when the final horn sounded, past and present Bees players were on hand to congratulate Morse, giving her a commemorative ball to mark the occasion.
Getting off to a great start, said Morse, proved that “they were excited to play (this game) and really wanted to do this for me.”
On one end, the Bees’ defensive pressure kept Liverpool from getting a field goal for nearly five minutes. Meanwhile, Ola Bednarczyk set the tone on offense, earning 10 of her team-high 18 points in the opening period.
B’ville’s margin grew to 28-11 early in the second quarter, but then the Warriors began to settle down on both ends and chipped away until it closed within nine, 30-21, early in the third period.
For the rest of the game, a pattern took hold. The Bees could not put the game away, but despite 24 points from Naveah Wingate, Liverpool could not make up much ground even as the pace quickened and the intensity grew.
Four different times, the Warriors got within eight points, only to have B’ville answer, the game all but settled when Kyrah Wilbur drove to the basket, converted, was fouled and made the free throw with 1:32 left to make it 60-48.
Aside from Bednarczyk, three other Bees reached double figures. Carlie Young earned 14 points, with Sydney Huhtala and Jayda Pyle each getting 12 points.
Win no. 399 had nearly arrived Jan. 7 with a last-second, 52-51 defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse. Instead, it would have to wait until B’ville returned home Wednesday and put together a 58-38 victory over Henninger.
The milestones were not limited to the Bees. With a free throw early in the game, Tayahja Scott became just the second player in Henninger history to surpass 1,000 career points, Scott having joined the Black Knights after Nottingham did not field a varsity team this winter.
Even with Scott’s 11 points, B’ville steadily took charge by halftime, building a 28-17 advantage, and then went on a 26-9 dash in the third quarter to put the game away.
Huhtala was at the forefront, earning 18 points. Pyle put up 11 points, with Wilbur getting nine points and Bednarczyk eight points.
Morse said she was quite happy to get the 400th win out of the way before B’ville (8-3, 3-1 league) hit a key stretch of games that included the likes of two other Class AA contenders, Fayetteville-Manlius and Rome Free Academy.
