ONONDAGA COUNTY – As programs accustomed to winning late in February, the Bishop Ludden and Westhill girls basketball teams would not find it that surprising to find themselves in the Section III semifinal round.
Going further, though, will prove quite a task.
As the no. 3 seed in Class AAA, Ludden would lean on a variety of players in last Saturday’s quarterfinal round to pull away and defeat no. 6 seed Henninger 73-51.
Never trailing, the Gaelic Knights jumped out to a 30-15 lead midway through the second quarter, leaning heavily on the duo of Jordyn Townes and Ava Carpenter, who had 21 of those 30 points.
Henninger battled back, though, and was within six, 34-28, early in the third. What was more, two starters, Bridget Dunham and Sophia Chemotti, soon went to the bench with four fouls apiece.
But it was Ludden’s reserves who helped put the game away. Abby Reynolds again stood out, amassing nine of her 13 points in the second half, while Grace Olivia chimed in with all of her seven points in the latter stages.
Sparked by this, the Gaelic Knights used a 13-0 fourth-quarter run to put it away as Carpenter amassed 19 points, 13 assists and six rebounds, with Townes also getting 19 points while adding eight rebounds and four assists.
Ludden will challenge no. 2 seed Cicero-North Syracuse (whom it lost to 51-43 late in December) in Wednesday’s sectional semifinal at Central Square, the winner to get Liverpool or Baldwinsville in the 1 p.m. title game next Saturday at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall.
That’s where Westhill wants to go, too, in the Class A sectional semifinals at Phoenix, though doing so will require toppling a top-seeded Indian River side that beat them 70-25 earlier this month.
Just getting to this game required Westhill, the no. 4 seed, to rally late in order to beat no. 5 seed Central Valley Academy 47-43 in last Saturday’s tense quarterfinal round.
All through the first half, the Warriors struggled to get baskets, and CVA charged in front, taking a 24-16 lead to the break. However, Westhill cranked up its own defense in the third quarter, holding the Thunder to just four points.
Then, during a wild final period, both sides stepped up their production, but it was Westhill getting the better of it largely due to Kara Rosenberger, who finished with 19 points, eight of them free throws.
Izzy Young added 13 points and five rebounds, with Lizzy McPeak getting eight points and eight rebounds, the Warriors overcoming a game-high 20 points by CVA’s Avery Rich.
West Genesee had its own no. 4 seed and its own sectional quarterfinal home game, yet it could not take advantage of a near-perfect start against no. 5 seed Fayetteville-Manlius, seeing it all fall apart in a 55-41 defeat to the Hornets.
F-M had prevailed twice over the Wildcats in the regular season, but in the first five minutes here it was all WG as it played with confidence and poise and shut out the Hornets, building an 11-0 advantage.
By the second quarter, that lead was gone.
Adjusting on defense and smothering the Wildcats, F-M would go on a 28-6 run the rest of the half, then hold WG to just two field goals in the third quarter while pulling further away, led by a career-best 22 points From Taylor Novack.
Unable to recover until a late scoring surge from its reserves, WG saw Madison Newirk-Mayer get 11 points and Bella Quinones 10 points as Mia Raymond added eight points, its season ending with a 9-12 mark.
