CENTRAL NEW YORK – In the aftermath of its Jan. 19 defeat to Marcellus, the Westhill girls basketball team would find its form again, partially at the expense of another of its neighbors.
The Eagles faced Jordan-Elbridge last Friday night, and for a while it was close – but a big second half helped the Warriors earn a 61-32 victory over the Eagles.
They went back and forth early, Westhill limiting J-E to two points in the first quarter, but the Eagles catching fire in the second period to make up most of the ground.
But a close contest changed when, in the third quarter, Westhill went on a 25-8 binge, and kept pulling further away as Catherine Dadey earned 21 points, with Janiah Robinson adding 14 points and Kate Heinrich getting 13 points.
Ava Hildebrant, with 16 points,was the only Eagle to hit double figures, Abbie Ahern adding six points.
Before all this,Westhill jumped out 20-4 on Chittenango last Tuesday and cruised to a 44-22 win, Dadey matching the Bears all by herself thanks to her 22 points.
Two days before facing Westhill, J-E was tied with Cazenovia, 24-24 at halftime, only to struggle in the second half of a 51-39 defeat to those other Lakers.
Hildebrant had 11 points and Ahern added nine points, with Heather Sorts getting eight points. Carleigh Szalach led Cazenovia with 23 points, 11 of them free throws.
That broke up a four-game win streak for J-E, who the week before had knocked off Solvay 56-29 behind Hildebrant’s 13 points, Ahern’s 11 points and Gabby Smart’s 10 points before it flattened Pulaski 71-21, Hildebrant getting 19 points and Ahern accumulating 11 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four steals.
West Genesee took another shot at Baldwinsville last Thursday night and was unable to recover from a cold first half in a 48-36 loss to the Bees.
It was B’ville’s Senior Night, but it didn’t get too distracted, steadily gaining a 28-15 edge by halftime and then outscoring the Wildcats 15-6 in the third quarter as one of those seniors, Sydney Huhtala, led the way with 23 points.
Nearly half of WG’s points came in the fourth quarter as Julia Miller led the way with 10 points. Mollie James had eight points, with Erin DiPaola adding seven points.
In a non-league game Saturday against Jamesville-DeWitt, the Wildcats played tremendous defense – and still lost, 29-26, to the Red Rams.
After getting shut down most of the way, J-D outscored WG 15-3 in the fourth quarter to pull it out as James had a team-high nine points, but Ava Sandroni led the Rams with nine points.
Skaneateles had little trouble beating Solvay 40-13 last Tuesday night, the Lakers holding the Bearcats to just three points the entire second half .
Maddy Ramsgard had 15 points, with Ayla Pas’cal adding 10 points as Neonna Turk had all but two of Solvay’s points and Margaret Kemp managed 11 rebounds.
Solvay then lost Friday to Syracuse West 51-40. The offense perked up as Kemp poured in 21 points and Natalie Orr got seven points, but West outscored the Bearcats in every period, led by Johnae Rice’s 23 points.
On Saturday, Skaneateles defeated Mexico 51-39 to improve to 11-4, heavily leaning on a two-pronged attack where Ramsgard put in 18 points and Pas’cal finished with 17 points.
