CENTRAL NEW YORK – In the opening days of 2023, various area high school girls basketball teams all sought consistency, and in some instances did a whole lot better.
For instance, Marcellus, who had not played for two weeks since a Dec. 22 win over Westhill, was quite impressive in its return last Thursday as it beat Solvay 68-22.
Highlighted by a 23-2 third-quarter blitz, the Mustangs saw Cece Powell outscore Solvay all by herself and finish with 31 points overall. And she didn’t work alone as Bella Mondello got 14 points and Leah Wood had 10 points.
Westhill. in last Monday’s game at Syracuse Academy of Science, it netted 26 first-quarter points to set the tone for a 68-35 win over the Atoms. Building a 61-25 lead through three periods, the Warriors were again led by Janiah Robinson, who had 26 points, nine rebounds and five steals. Tess Roesch had 13 points and five assists.
Having not played since two losses in the Amsterdam College Showcase Dec. 27-28, Bishop Ludden returned last Friday at Bishop Grimes and jumped all over the Cobras on the way to an 83-29 victory.
As if a 26-10 first-quarter surge wasn’t enough, the Gaelic Knights again scored 26 in the third period, seeing Amarah Streiff work her way to 24 points, six rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
Sophia Chemotti got eight assists and four steals as she and Bridget Dunham both had 14 points. Jordyn Townes (nine points) and Abby Reynolds (eight points) nearly reached double figures, too as Ava Carpenter got seven assists.
Back home a day later, Ludden beat Section VI’s Hamburg 62-41, falling behind 18-11 early but going in front by the third quarter.
Outscoring g the Bulldogs 37-15 in the second half, the Gaelic Knights saw Streiff gain 28 points, with Dunham and Carpenter getting nine points apiece.
Skaneateles also got a big win on Friday, leaning on its defense to top Phoenix 48-32 as it never let the Firebirds score more than nine points in any single quarter.
Balanced in its attack, the Lakers saw Maddy Ramsgard finish with 13 points, just ahead of Allie Michel’s total of 12 points as Ayla Pas’cal got 10 points.
This happened as Westhill put away Chittenango 57-22 to improve to 6-3 overall, blanking the Bears in a 17-0 first quarter and leading 30-3 by halftime as Robinson had 11 points and eight rebounds, with Young adding 10 points.
