CENTRAL NEW YORK – When last seen in late December, the Bishop Ludden girls basketball team sported a 4-2 record, yet had still firmly planted itself in the state Class A rankings.
Not until last weekend’s Juggler Classic at Utica-Notre Dame did the Gaelic Knights take the court again, using some amazing individual performances from the duo of Kailtyn Kibling and Amarah Streiff to claim the tournament title.
Ludden met Troy’s Catholic Central (Section II) in the opening round, getting a gigantic fourth quarter from Kibling to turn a late deficit into a decisive 63-48 victory over the Crusaders.
CCHS held the Gaelic Knights to five points in the second quarter. Even as the production picked up on both ends early in the second half, the Gaelic Knights kept touch, only trailing 38-34 with one period.
Then Kibling unloaded in the fourth quarter, netting more than half of her 21 points as Streiff, even far from top form, still had 12 points and 13 assists. Bridget Dunham and Sarah Boyea both got nine points and Elizabeth Gaughan had eight points.
Sunday’s final pitted Ludden against host Utica-Notre Dame, who had routed CBA 76-33 in the other first-round contest, and the Jugglers found that it had no chance of containing Streiff as the Gaelic Knights prevailed 81-58.
Not happy with her numbers from the CCHS game, Streiff retuned and ran over the Jugglers’ defense for 19 points in the first quarter that ended with a 12-0 Gaelic Knights run.
Sparked by Streiff, Ludden saw Bridget Dunham hit on three 3-pointers, the last of them right before halftime, and Streiff worked her total to 25 points, all helped Ludden build a 49-23 halftime.
With a big lead the rest of the way, the Gaelic Knights continued to add to the margin as Streiff poured in 36 points, helped all night by Kibling, who got 17 points, and Dunham got 11 points.
Back on Saturday, Westhill completed an impressive week of work when, in a clash of Warrior sides, it knocked off state Class A no. 13-ranked Indian River 49-39.
Both sides found it difficult to find the basket during the first two quarters, only trading a handful of field goals.
Then, with the score 19-18 in Westhill’s favor at halftime, Westhill jumped on IR, outscoring them 18-7 in that game, the only instance of separation between the two sides.
Through it all, Catherine Dadey flourished, pouring in 23 points while adding 10 rebounds, four steals and two assists. Kate Heinrich got 13 rebounds to go with her eight points as Julianne Bleskoski got seven points. Adrien LaMora netted 16 points to lead IR.
