CENTRAL NEW YORK – There was no way the Bishop Ludden girls basketball team was going to let Bishop Grimes ruin Senior Night for the Gaelic Knights’ lone senior, Bridget Dunham.
With another solid team effort, the Gaelic Knights withstood a strong effort from the Cobras last Monday to prevail 55-48 for its 12th win in its last 13 games.
From the pregame speech by head coach Carm Petrera to the posters, signs and messages on the scoreboard, it was all about Dunham, who will attend Le Moyne College next fall.
Then the game started and Ava Carpenter hit on nine straight points late in the first quarter to give Ludden the lead for good, the Gaelic Knights nursing its margin until it had a 35-23 advantage early in the second half.
Grimes, unlike its 71-52 loss to Ludden in East Syracuse 10 days earlier, battled its way back, at one point cutting the Gaelic Knights’ lead to 48-46 with nearly three minutes remaining led by seventh-grader Gia Kinsey, who finished with 13 points.
But Carpenter, quiet in most of the late stages, hit a driving layup. Then Dunham hit on a key rebound basket and sank two free throws in the final minute to help clinch victory.
All told, Carpenter had 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals, while Jordyn Townes got most of her 15 points in the second half. Sophia Chemotti stepped up with 11 points and Dunham had eight points, six rebounds and four blocks.
In a non-league game Wednesday night, Ludden routed Cato-Meridian 63-30, going on a 26-8 first-quarter tear and continuing from there. Dunham got 17 points, six steals, three blocks and four rebounds, with Carpenter adding 16 points, four rebounds, five steals and five assists. Townes chimed in with 13 points.
A similar result came on Saturday as Ludden put away Syracuse Academy of Science 72-33, netting 30 points in the first quarter alone and pulling further away from there.
Improving to 16-3 overall, the Gaelic Knights got 23 points from Dunham, with Townes close behind thanks to 19 points and Abby Reynolds having, by far, her best game of the winter, pouring in 14 points, more than double her previous season high.
Undergoing some late-season struggles, Westhill finally broke out of them last Tuesday against visiting Chittenango, but even this 51-42 victory wasn’t easy as the Warriors led 21-8 through one quarter but but could not put the Bears away.
It took Izzy Young, earning 19 points, getting help from Rosie Mahoney (nine points) and Kara Rosenberger (seven points) to withstand a fine Chittenango effort led by Abby Schiedelman’s 17 points and Persephone Rohrer’s 10 points.
West Genesee lost Tuesday to Fayetteville-Manlius 55-42, struggling in the first half as it fell behind 18-9 and was still down when, in the third quarter, the Wildcats almost caught up.
An 18-8 push cut WG’s deficit to three, 37-34, but the Hornets regrouped and put it away led by Lydia Land-Steves’ 23 points as Hannah Sparks, with 17 points, paced the Wildcats, Bella Quinones held to 10 points.
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On Friday night at Baldwinsville, the Wildcats fell to the Bees 57-41, with most of the damage rendered in a first quarter where the Bees streaked out to a 20-6 advantage.
Quinones and Hannah Sparks each had 11 points, with Sparks converting a trio of 3-pointers. Maddie Newkirk-Meyer had eight points, with Mia Raymond adding six points.
