ONONDAGA COUNTY – For more than a week, the Baldwinsville girls basketball team worked on everything that had gone well – and a lot that went wrong – during its second-place finish in the Nov. 24-25 Bill Middleton Tip-Off Tournament.
A full 10 days later, the Bees were at Fayetteville-Manlius for its Salt City Athletic Conference opener, and led by the likes of Madison Polky and Olivia Davis, it defeated the Hornets 49-39.
B’ville mostly leaned on its defense in the game’s early stages as its offense showed a bit of rust. The approach worked, since the Bees found itself up 24-17 going into the break.
All through the second half, F-M tried to catch up, led by 13 points from Lydia Land-Steves and 12 points from Mia Knuth, yet B’ville maintained its advantage.
Polky’s 18 points led all scorers, while Davis also climbed into double digits with 11 points. Nela Loftin and Madayia Simmons joined the effort, each getting eight points.
Now at 2-1 overall, B”ville returned home Friday night to face Fulton, and by controlling the flow of play on both ends in the middle stages, the Bees got a 62-40 victory over the Red Dragons.
Fulton actually led 17-15 before a second quarter where the Bees clamped down and, with a 16-5 push, went in front for good, not letting up until it had torn through the third period 24-7.
Leading this 40-12 outburst was Davis and Loftin, each of whom managed 13 points, though Madison Polky was right behind them, earning 11 points. Simmons gained eight points as Makenna Polky, Sierra Natoli and Natalie Hollingshead had five points apiece.
This week brings a rematch with F-M and a trip to Central Square, all of it a prelude to the Bees’ trip next week to Orlando, Florida for three games at the KSA Events Basketball Classic.
