BALDWINSVILLE – If the Baldwinsville girls basketball team harbored any hopes of toppling Liverpool from its place atop the area Class AAA ranks, it had to demonstrate its quality in half a season’s worth of games first.

And the Bees passed the first test with its convincing victory in last weekend’s Bill Middleton Tip-Off Tournament, where it routed Syracuse West 83-24 in the first round and topped Bishop Grimes 60-31 in the finals.

B’ville went 16-6 a season ago, only to get upended by Cicero-North Syracuse in the Section III semifinal round. From that team the top three scorers – Olivia Davis, Maddie Polky and Natalie Hollingshead – return, along with several other players.

They all were on hand when the Bees began the Middleton Tournament against Syracuse West and, applying plenty of pressure, raced out to a 20-4 advantage through one quarter.

As the margin kept growing B’ville got a chance for its entire roster to see minutes, with Polky earning 13 points and Delaney Nizar getting 12 points. Hollingshead earned 10 points, with Davis one of four players to get eight points, joined by Capri Hartman, Mya Tobben and Jameson Seefeldt.

Bishop Grimes beat Oswego 55-33 in the other opening-round game, setting up a final where the second quarter would prove decisive.

Already owning a 15-9 lead, B’ville dashed the Cobras’ hopes by outscoring them 22-4 the rest of the half, eventually building a 50-22 margin through three periods.

Davis was red-hot from the perimeter all game long, setting a career mark with seven 3-pointers to account for most of her 23 points. Polky put in 14 points, with Hollingshead and Hartman earning seven points apiece and Lauren Cary adding six points.

B’ville is at home this week for games against Bishop Ludden Tuesday and New Hartford on Friday night.