CENTRAL NEW YORK – For the Jordan-Elbridge girls basketball team, recovering from its Feb. 2 defeat at Marcellus meant more than just adding to the win column with the Section III Class B playoffs looming.
Other important business motivated the Eagles, and it was achieved in last Monday’s 74-35 win over Syracuse Academy of Science when senior Ava Hildebrant surpassed the 1,000-point mark, the first for the J-E program since Molly Baker achieved it in the early 1990s.
A strong first half had the Eagles in front of the Atoms 26-11, and it had expanded that margin going into the fourth quarter, but Hildebrant only had eight points and was short of the milestone.
J-E players made sure, down the stretch, that Hildebrant got the ball, and she netted 17 of the Eagles’ 29 points that put her past 1,000, also getting four rebounds and three steals.
Helping out on this night, Abbie Ahern had 18 rebounds, six assists and seven steals to go with her 10 points as Erin LaVancha amassed 19 points and 13 rebounds. Makayla Penird earned 10 points and seven rebounds.
The romp of J-E had pushed Marcellus into the state Class B top 10 at the no. 8 spot, but it did not in any way keep the Mustangs from losing focus, as it showed last Tuesday defeating Hannibal 43-25.
Hitting on four 3-pointers after not making one of them against the Eagles, Cece Powell’s 25 points exactly matched that of Hannibal, with Tenly Baker cooling off but still producing nine points.
Then it was time for another big rivalry Thursday night as Marcellus hosted Skaneateles and, again, the Mustangs got the best of it, defeating the Lakers 60-37.
Steadily, the Mustangs worked its way to a 28-15 halftime lead and kept adding to the margin as Powell, with her aggressive style, worked her way to 27 points as Baker, helped by four 3-pointers, put in 17 points.
No one on Skaneateles could approach those numbers, though Allie Michel, with 11 points, and Finn Pas’cal, with 10 points, hit double figures, with Bella Pietropaoli adding eight points. Marcellus held the Lakers’ leading scorer, Ayla Pas’cal, to just three points.
Two nights earlier, Skaneateles roared past Solvay 59-22 to improve to 9-7 on the season, the Lakers opening on a 16-5 surge and never getting caught.
Ayla Pas’cal managed 17 points, six rebounds and four assists, pacing a Skaneateles attack where Michel got 11 points, Claire Neumann eight points and Ellie Walsh and Finn Pas’cal six points apiece.
Then Solvay had to turn and face J-E on Thursday, the Eagles winning 70-20 as it outscored the Bearcats 45-6 over the course of the second and third quarters.
Hildebrant had 21 points and Penird 15 points, with LaVancha adding 11 points and Ahern nearly getting a triple-double with 10 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists.
Solvay met Onondaga last Monday night and lost, 41-36, to the Tigers, nearly making a miraculous comeback as it trailed 39-15 through three quarters.
Roaring back late, the Bearcats saw Neonna Turk put up 16 points, nine rebounds and six steals, while Togni and Shay’Eanna Turk each worked her totals to seven points and seven rebounds.
And Solvay would win Friday night, 47-28, over Cincinnatus, going on a 16-4 third-quarter run to decide it as Neonna Turk had 17 points and 15 rebounds, Janiya Walters adding 11 points and Togni getting eight points as Shay’Eanna Turk had nine rebounds.
Playing again on Saturday, Skaneateles lost, 49-35, to Moravia, falling behind 14-7 in the first quarter and unable to catch up as Ayla Pas’cal finished with nine points.
