CENTRAL NEW YORK – Whether away or at home, two consecutive Tuesday-night encounters between the Baldwinsville and Fayetteville-Manlius girls basketball teams both ended in the same manner – much to the Bees’ delight.
Having already won at F-M on Dec. 5, the Bees welcomed the Hornets to Baker High School seven days later and, despite more points on the board on both ends, prevailed again, this time 54-45.
Here, things were largely decided in the first half, B’ville playing effective, consistent defense and not letting up until it took a 25-17 lead to the break.
Every attempt by F-M to catch up was answered, the Bees led by Madison Polky, who got 13 points, and Olivia Davis, who earned eight of her 12 points at the free-throw line.
Maddie Simons finished with nine points, closely followed by Natalie Hollingshead’s seven points and Nela Loftin’s six points. This depth helped overcome the fact that three Hornets – Lydia Davidson (13 points), Mia Knuth (11 points) and Taylor Novack (10 points) – reached double figures.
Now the Bees would challenge undefeated Central Square on Thursday night, and a combination of near-perfect scoring balance and a strong all-around performance by Polky helped the Bees get a 42-37 win over the Redhawks.
Trailing 11-9 after one quarter, B’ville made its decisive move in the second, outscoring Central Square 16-4 to establish a solid lead that grew to 38-25 before the Redhawks nearly made up all the ground in the final period.
Polky made sure it didn’t get too nervous. Aside from her team-high 10 points, Polky filled up the stat sheet with seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, and she wasn’t alone with her versatility.
Hollingshead got six rebounds, three steals and two assists to go with her nine points. Simons notched eight points and seven rebounds, while Loftin amassed nine rebounds, three steals and two assists as she and Olivia Davis put up six points.
All of this depth overcame some fine efforts on Central Square’s side, whether it was Payton St. Clair earning 15 points and seven rebounds or Natalie Bush getting 12 points and five rebounds. No other Redhawks player had more than four points, though.
So B’ville takes a 5-1 overall record on its flight to Orlando, Florida, where next week it will take part in the KSA Events Tournament, ultimately playing three games before returning Dec. 28 to host Oswego.
