BALDWINSVILLE – How the Baldwinsville girls basketball team felt in the wake of last Monday night’s 56-48 defeat to Liverpool might not prove relevant in the long run, but in the short term it had to at least be more encouraging.
Back when the two neighbors and rivals first met Jan. 9, the Warriors smothers the Bees from the outset, not allowing a field goal in the first quarter and just 10 first-half points on the way to a 57-34 decision.
Nearly a month later, Liverpool brought a nine-game win streak and a no. 7 state Class AAA ranking to Baker High School, but would find B’ville a far more difficult opponent.
Baskets fell early for the Bees, enough of them to keep it tight throughout the first half. By the time they went to the break, the Warriors were in front, but only by a single point, 25-24, and B’ville possessed a fair amount of confidence.
Then came the third quarter.
Combining its trademark defense with conversions on the other end, Liverpool outscored B’ville 15-6 in that frame, which made up most of the visitors’ ultimate winning margin.
Olivia Davis still had a memorable night, hitting on a career-best six 3-pointers to account for most of her 20 points, while Madison Polky had nine points and Nela Loftin stepped up with eight points.
Yet the Bees again had a difficult time containing the Warriors’ top scorer, A’briyah Cunningham, who poured in 24 points with help from Kaylyn Sweeney (nine points) and Gianna Washington (seven points).
This followed a 64-58 win over East Syracuse Minoa on Feb. 2 where B’ville managed to overcome 33 points and 13 rebounds from the Spartans’ Aniyah Jones with lots of production from all of its key players.
After falling to Liverpool, B’ville got back in the win column Friday night in the regular-season finale against West Genesee, prevailing 57-41 as both teams held a “Coaches vs. Cancer” benefit in honor of long-time local official Earl Scruggs.
All that the Bees needed came in the first quarter as it jumped out 20-6. Held to six points in the second period, B’ville recovered and, throughout the second half, answered everything WG threw at them.
Scoring balance helped, too. Davis got 16 points that included three 3-pointers, while Polky returned to form with 15 points and Natalie Hollingshead, also connecting on three 3-pointers, finished with 13 points. Bella Quinones and Hannah Sparks led the Wildcats with 11 points apiece.
Having improved to 15-5, B’ville will now wait and, with practices and scrimmages, get ready for the Section III Class AAA playoffs, which do not begin until next weekend.
