CENTRAL NEW YORK – Unbeaten in its first four games, the West Genesee girls basketball team had risen to the top of the list of local Class AA contenders, especially with the likes of Liverpool, Cicero-North Syracuse and Baldwinsville now in the AAA ranks.
Yet there was still a lot for the Wildcats to learn, as it discovered Tuesday when it went up against C-NS at North Syracuse Junior High School and suffered an 81-52 defeat to the Northstars.
C-NS, still burning from blowing a 22-point lead to Liverpool a week earlier, went on a shooting tear on the way to a 32-8 lead on WG by the end of the first quarter, hardly letting up during the middle stages, either.
Between them, Kat McRobbie-Taru and Leah Benedict made nine 3-pointers, with McRobbie-Taru on her way to 31 points and Benedict adding 18 points. By contrast, only Bella Quinones, with 22 points, hit double figures for the Wildcats, though Mia Raymond had nine points and Madison Newkirk-Mayer added eight points.
Marcellus was rolling, too, leading the local Class B pack and reinforcing that point Monday against Solvay as it rolled to a 60-33 victory over the Bearcats.
Leading 43-10 by halftime, the state Class B no. 13-ranked Mustangs eased up from there, having seen Cece Powell nearly outscore Solvay by herself on her way to a season-beset 28 points. Tenly Baker had 11 points and Leah Wood added seven points.
The Bearcats got nearly all its offense from Shay’Eanna Turk, who finished with 15 points, and Neonna Turk, who had 14 points, adding nine rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
This was the Mustangs’ fifth straight win, following a Dec. 16 battle at Jamesville-DeWitt where it beat the Red Rams 51-45 with a steady attack that built a 42-32 advantage through three quarters mostly thanks to Baker, who set a career mark with 27 points, and Powell, who chimed in with 19 points.
Then Marcellus made it six in a row against Cazenovia on Wednesday, romping to a 76-31 victory as Baker managed to top her effort from the J-D game.
Outscoring the entire Cazenovia roster by herself, Baker finished with 35 points on 14 field goals, five of them 3-pointers. Powell wasn’t quiet, either, again finishing with19 points as Gabby Voss added nine points.
Westhill was pushed in Tuesday’s game by Syracuse West, but did enough to prevail 62-57, leaning on its attack to overcome a modest 34-33 halftime deficit.
Izzy Young and Kara Rosenberger both finished with 20 points, while on defense Nora Fitzgerald grabbed 11 rebounds and Lizzy McPeak had 10 rebounds as Fitzgerald added eight points. Treasure Taylor (18 points) and Elise Jackson (15 points) led West.
Jordan-Elbridge took a 2-2 record into Monday’s game at Cazenovia and, climbing above the .500 mark, the Eagles defeated the Lakers 54-39.
A quick start had J-E jump out 15-8, and from there it steadily added to its margin the rest of the way led by Ava Hildebrant, who poured in 25 points, nearly half the Eagles’ output, and Abbie Ahern, who got 16 points.
T
hen the Eagles made it back-to-back wins on Wednesday, topping Hannibal 42-31 by jumping out in front early and preserving its lead by limiting the opposition to six points in the third quarter and five points in the fourth quarter.
Hildebrant had nearly half of J-E’s production, finishing with 17 points. Erin LaVancha stepped up with nine points and Ahern added seven points.
On the other end of this kind of result, Skaneateles lost 41-20 to Phoenix that same night, held to just four points the entire second half after leading 16-15 at the break. Ayla Pas’cal led the Lakers (3-4) with nine points.
