CENTRAL NEW YORK – Area high school girls basketball teams had plenty to challenge them last week, with sporadic success to be found.
Christian Brothers Academy was quite successful in last Friday’s game against Syracuse Academy of Science, the Brothers’ offense humming in a 67-40 win over the Atoms.
All through the first half, CBA kept solving SAS’s defense while, at the same time, proving quite stingy keeping the Atoms from doing the same.
Up 40-14 at the break, the Brothers would eventually see Chianna Williams earn 21 points, with Amelia Bonacci getting 10 points. Liana Thomas had eight points as Sydney Vaughan, Carmella Fairbanks, Katie Nolan and Cara Macaluso had six points apiece.
Jamesville-DeWitt was 8-4 and riding a three-game win streak when it hosted Auburn last Tuesday night and got humbled in a 68-40 loss to the Maroons.
Auburn, who will move up to Class AA for the post-season, allowed the Red Rams to hang around for a half and then, up 29-28 at the break, exploded in the third quarter.
J-D was outscored 28-6 in that frame, mostly due to Maroons superstar Leah Middleton, whose 35 points nearly matched the entire Rams roster by game’s end.
By contrast, Aniyah Neal led J-D with just 11 points. Macy Durkin had eight points, with Lindsay Parker and Grace Hobika getting seven points apiece.
Then J-D fell Friday to Central Square 52-43, having played a strong second quarter to lead 28-20 at halftime, only to get outscored 19-7 in the third quarter as the Redhawks seized control.
Ava Sandroni had 14 points, with Neal adding 12 points, but no one on the Rams could handle Central Square’s Natalie Bush, whose 23 points included five 3-pointers.
Bishop Grimes would lose both of its games in the MLK Tournament, starting Jan.14 against Marcellus where it was even most of the way, but paid for a poor start in a 55-43 defeat.
Down 20-10 after one period, the Cobras fought back behind Kierra Baxter’s 17 points that included four 3-pointers and Aaliyah Zachery’s 10 points. But the Mustangs got 27 points from Cece Powell and saw Bella Mondello dominate the glass, earning 16 rebounds to go with 16 points.
A day later, Grimes fell to Section II’s Saratoga Springs 50-40, the game tight most of the way until the Blue Streaks held the Cobras to eight points in the final period. Baxter finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds as Zachery had nine points and five rebounds. Olivia Bitz added seven points.
Then, in Friday’s 70-40 loss to Bishop Ludden, a rough first quarter saw the Gaelic Knights erupt for 35 points and only allow a single free throw.
It got a lot better from there, Zachery earning 14 points as Bitz (nine points), Olivia Chiaramonte (eight points) and Baxter (seven points) followed. Colgate-bound senior Amarah Streiff led Ludden with 25 points.
Fayetteville-Manlius took a 41-27 defeat to Baldwinsville last Tuesday night, with the difference a second quarter where the Hornets wee shut out by the Bees’ relentless defense.
Giving up 17 unanswered points in that frame, the Hornets did see Evie Kawa eventually work her way to 10 points and Ashley Schneider seven points. Carlie Young paced B’ville with 12 points.
A night later, F-M lost, 28-21, to Oneida, who limited the Hornets to two points in the first quarter and then leaned on its defense the rest of the way, too. Kawa got nine points and Julianna Cogliandro added six points.
It didn’t get better on Friday, the Hornets running into Liverpool and taking a 56-20 defeat as no player had more than Schneider’s total of five points. Jakeira Stackhouse paced the Warriors with 11 points.
East Syracuse Minoa struggled last Wednesday in a 57-30 defeat to Cortland, held to two points in the third quarter as the Purple Tigers got away, overcoming 14 points by the Spartans’ Aniyah Jones.
