Whether they were back in New York State or had just stayed here, each of the Baldwinsville basketball teams found themselves pushed hard in their assorted holiday tournament appearances.
The B’ville girls, whose strong 7-1 start put it at no. 13 in the first state Class AAA rankings of the season, would go to the Amsterdam Girls Showcase.
Against Section II’s Shenendehowa on Dec. 28, the Bees took a 68-57 defeat, this despite a solid first half on both sides of the ball where B’ville worked its way to a 32-28 advantage.
Shen turned it around outscoring the Bees 22-11 in the third quarter and held on from there. Short-handed, B’ville still managed to have the trio of Natalie Hollinghsead, Olivia Davis and Beverly Marinelli earn 14 points apiece as Capri Hartman contributed eight points.
Another Section II foe awaited at Amsterdam on Dec. 29, this time Columbia, who roared out to a 37-17 halftime advantage on the way to defeating the Bees 52-36.
Shut out against Shenendehowa Maddie Polky managed seven points here, while Hollingshead led with 10 points and Abigail Mantione added eight points. But Davis was held to four points.
As for the B’ville boys, after going 1-2 in the KSA Tournament in Kissimmee, Florida right before Christmas it headed to East Syracuse Minoa’s annual holiday tournament.
In the Dec. 27 opening round the Bees faced Bishop Grimes, and both teams would feature on defense at various points but the Cobras did so more often, ultimately defeating B’ville 50-41.
When Grimes jumped out 18-6 the Bees, to its credit, did not flinch much. Instead, it clamped down hard and limited the Cobras to just two points the entire second quarter to move within one, 20-19, at the break.
Yet B’ville could not put together a sustained run and Grimes gradually built up the margin again, overcoming a game-high 14 points from M.J. Young as Mike Virginia added eight points and Matt Pope six points. Garang Garang’s 11 points led a well-balanced Cobras attack as Dan Shaw had nine points, Nate Abernethy and A.J. Wade eight points apiece.
Facing Watertown in The Dec. 28 consolation game, B’ville played a tremendous first half, only to see it get away on both sides of the ball late in a 50-48 loss to the Cyclones.
Watertown was cold early, and the Bees did enough to build a 28-15 advantage. However, the Cyclones’ shots started to fall in the third quarter, the gap closing to 37-32, and it kept catching up until it overtook the Bees in the final minutes.
Young put up 20 points and Pope stepped up with 16 points, while Mike Virginia earned eight points. Jack Adams paced Watertown with 18 points and five rebounds.
At 2-6 overall the B’ville boys return to league action this week facing West Genesee and Fayetteville-Manlius, with the girls also taking on West Genesee Tuesday before a big test Thursday night at reigning sectional Class AAA champion Liverpool.
