CENTRAL NEW YORK – With many of the area’s high school girls basketball teams going through slow starts and early defeats, it was imperative to find any sort of advantage and victory.
Jordan-Elbridge got a key early-season win against Skaneateles last Monday night, the Eagles using a fierce fourth-quarter comeback that led to a 41-38 victory over the Lakers.
Having lost its opener to Southern Cayuga Nov. 29, J-E seemed on the way to a similar result when Skaneateles held it to just nine point s in the first half.
Gradually, though, the shots started to fall and that, combined with a strong defense in the second half, resulted in a 17-9 push through the fourth quarter that erased the Eagles’ deficit.
Abbie Ahern led the comeback, earning seven of her 14 points at the free-throw line. Ava Hildebrant had 11 points, with Erin LaVancha adding eight points as the Lakers got 10 points apiece from Ayla Pas’cal and Allie Michel, Ellie Walsh adding eight points.
Skaneateles rebounded Thursday by beating Homer 51-30, outscoring the Trojans 29-12 in the second half. Pas’cal poured in 20 points, with Bella Pietropaoli adding 10 points as Michel had seven points and Claire Neumann eight points.
Westhill is a team accustomed to winning big each winter and was 19-4 a season ago, getting all the way to the sectional Class B final before a painful defeat to Cortland.
But replacing a senior class that included the team’s three leading scorers – Jania Robinson, Jules Bleskoski and Tess Roesch – was going to be difficult, as evidenced by last Monday’s season opener, a 34-31 defeat to Oneida.
The newly-named Express had its own struggles against the Warriors’ defense early, but made enough stops to stay close and then, trailing 16-13 at halftime, erased that deficit by making an 11-4 march through the third quarter.
And Oneida would hang on, despite a balanced Westhill attack. Lizzy McPeak had 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, with Reagan Rogers adding eight points as Nora Fitzgerald had seven points and six rebounds.
Things would get even tougher Thursday against a Bishop Ludden side that had far more experience and a lot of frustration built up from a Dec. 1 defeat to Liverpool.
Sure enough, the Gaelic Knights hammered Westhill 60-35, using a 17-5 push through the second quarter to break the game open as Sophia Chemotti led with 19 points, Jordyn Townes had 14 points and Bridget Dunham got 12 points. Reagan Rogers (11 points) and Kara Rosenberger (10 points) accounted for most of the Warriors’ production.
