CENTRAL NEW YORK – To say the Marcellus girls basketball team faced a difficult stretch was understating it – six straight games, all on the road, in a span of 12 days, mostly against a high level of competition.

It began with the MLK Tournament at Bishop Grimes, where in the Jan. 14 opening round the Mustangs’ quick start against the host Cobras led to a 55-43 victory.

Once it had built a 20-10 edge by the end of the first quarter, Marcellus spent the rest of the game protecting that lead against several Grimes bursts.

Cece Powell, with 27 points, accounted for nearly half the Mustangs’ output. Bella Mondello stepped up with 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Corrine Aldrich gained 10 points.

All of this made the 81-32 loss to Section V power Bishop Kearney in Monday’s final easier to take. The Mustangs were outscored 23-5 in the first quarter and never caught up as Powell, with 17 points, was the only Marcellus player with more than two field goals.

What Marcellus remembered, though was that back on Dec. 22 it had upended Westhill 44-40 – a game the Warriors also remembered quite well, for different reasons.

When they faced each other again last Thursday, the result was far different, Westhill prevailing 57-39 to earn its seventh conseuctive victory.

Steadily, the Warriors gained a 27-21 edge by halftime and then got away by outscoring the Mustangs 15-5 in the third quarter, effective on both ends.
T
ess Roesch led with 20 points, with Janiah Robinson and Eva Tarolli each getting 12 points as Robinson added seven rebounds and Tarolli six rebounds, equaling Lizzy McPeak. Jules Bleskoski got seven points as, for Marcellus, only Powell, with 20 points, hit double figures.

Now it was Marcellus’ turn to rebound as, on Saturday, it beat Central Valley Academy 55-52 in overtime, rallying from a 38-32 deficit in the fourth quarter to force the extra period.

The Mustangs held the Thunder to just four points in those four extra minutes. More importantly, Powell, with 23 points, got lots of help as Mondello gained 16 points and Corrine Aldrich earned a season-best 13 points.

Skaneateles, still carrying momentum from its come-from-behind win over Marcellus Jan. 9, went to Chittenango a week later and recorded a 49-39 win over the Bears.
Steadily, the Lakers gained a 39-26 advantage through three quarters led by Maddy Ramsgard, who finished with a game-high 18 points.

Allie Michel, with 13 points, was close behind, Katie Reed getting seven points as only Alazayah Smith, with 12 points, hit double figures for Chittenango.

The Lakers rolled again at Homer on Friday, prevailing 55-35 as it outscored the Trojans 16-3 in the second quarter and eventually bulit a 46-23 advantage by the end of the third quarter.

Aside from the strong defense, there was Ramsgard ramming her way to 23 points, with help from Michel, who had 10 points, and Ayla Pas’cal, who got 10 points.

Solvay picked up its second win of the season at Tully last Tuesday night, topping the Black Knights 40-37.

The third quarter proved key, with the Bearcats outscoring Tully 14-8 to go in front, then hanging on late thanks to Jayde Coyne’s double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Shay’Eanna Turk filled up the stat sheet with eight points, six steals and six rebounds, while Neonna Turk had four steals to go with nine points. Solvay then lost Thursday to Phoenix 49-15.