CENTRAL NEW YORK – Few area high school girls basketball games will have the dynamics which were in play last Tuesday night when Bishop Ludden hosted West Genesee.

What was already a strong local clash only got enhanced in the off-season when one-time Ludden star Jordyn Townes transferred and found herself at West Genesee.

Now Townes returned to face her old team, and had a fine performance – but the collective strength of the Gaelic Knights made the difference as it fought past the Wildcats 76-68.

Essentially the second quarter decided matters. Ludden was red-hot from the field, putting up 28 points in those eight minutes to establish a 41-26 halftime advantage.

And the margin grew in the third period before WG’s late charge, most of which involved baskets from Townes, who finished with 22 points, and Bella Quinones, who gained 24 points as Mia Raymond added nine points.

Far more balanced, the Gaelic Knights got five players into double figures led by Ava Carpenter, who matched Quinones’ 24 points but also got seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Chemotti got 15 points and five assists, with Grace Olivia stepping up for 14 points, five rebounds and three steals. Elizabeth Gaughan had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds as Abby Reynolds finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.

Before all this, Townes had her first big game for WG on Dec. 6 as she combined with Quinones to outscore the opposition by thsemselves in the course of an 82-42 victory.

Hitting on seven 3-pointers between them, Quinones finished with 27 points and Townes earned 23 points. Help came from Brynlee Elkins getting eight points and Alanna Bowman six points.

Townes then carried WG’s attack a day later, but her 27 points was not enough to prevent a 61-46 defeat to Horseheads as Quinones was well-contained, managing just four points.

After it faced Ludden,the Wildcats tried to recover Thursday night against Henninger in its SCAC Metro division opener, only to get overwhelmed in a 65-41 loss to the Black Knights.

Only 1-3 going into the game, Henninger got an early lead, then used a 20-5 domination of the third quarter to pull clear, getting 22 points from Deysha Cruz and 21 points from Alayna Wood, the pair outscoring WG by themselves.

Quinones did finish with 18 points, but Townes was limited to eight points and no one else on the Wildcats topped the six points fron Na’Deja Newkirk.

Ludden, meanwhile, made it three wins in a row Friday night with its defense the main reason why it defeated Cortland 48-29.

The Purple Tigers’ attempts to slow the game down backfired as the Gaelic Knights gave up just five points in the first quarter and six points in each of the last two periods.

Given how stingy it was, Ludden didn’t need big numbers on the other end. Still, Carpenter managed 13 points, six steals, four rebounds and four assists as Chemotti got 10 points. Gaughan and Olivia had eight points apiece and Reynolds notched eight rebounds to go with her six points.