ONONDAGA COUNTY – Going through its busiest and toughest stretch of the regular season, the Baldwinsville girls basketball team nearly produced three high-quality victories in a row.
Having knocked off red-hot Bishop Ludden on Jan. 16, the Bees turned from there to the Martin Luther King Jr. Tournament at Bishop Grimes where, in the opening round last Sunday afternoon, it won again, defeating Marcellus 62-58.
What made it more impressive was the fact that the Mustangs were hot out of the gate, grabbing a 23-15 lead by the end of the first quarter, only to have B’ville turn it around on both ends and go up 35-32 by halftime.
Increasing that lead early in the second half, the Bees then had to hang on late as Marcellus’ pair of 1,000-point scorers tried for another comeback, Cece Powell working her total to 24 points and Tenly Baker earning 21 points.
B’ville held on, though, led by Maddy Polky’s 19 points and Natalie Hollingshead’s 16 points as they each hit on three 3-pointers. Capri Hartman, with 10 points, also hit double figures as Beverly Marinelli earned eight points.
Now in the final, the Bees would face host Bishop Grimes, who held the top spot in the state Class B rankings and beat West Genesee in the opening round, but who lost to the Bees earlier this season in the finals of the Bill Middleton Tip-Off Tournament.
Grimes would prove too good in the rematch, leading most of the way and handing the Bees a 61-46 defeat as the visitors could not recover from an opening period where the Cobras were strong on both ends and established a 20-12 lead.
Despite Polky’s 16 points and Abigail Mantione’s season-best 11 points, B’ville could not put together the sustained scoring run it needed and could not contain Grimes standout Sicily Shaffer, whose 27 points was a season best.
Returning to league action on Thursday night B’ville faced Henninger and, just as it did back in December, had its way against the Black Knights roaring to a 76-37 victory.
A near-flawless start on both ends had the Bees in front 18-4 going to the second quarter. Henninger briefly got going, only to have the Bees settle matters by outscoring them 23-7 in the third period.
Between them, Hollingshead and Davis hit on nine 3-pointers, Hollingshead gaining 22 points to set a new season mark just ahead of Davis finishing with 17 points. Marinelli again finished with eight points.
Meanwhile, in boys basketball Baldwinsville would go into Tuesday night’s game against reigning sectional Class AAA champion Liverpool off its first set of back-to-back victories this winter.
After topping Auburn 49-31 on Jan. 17 the Bees, hosting Corcoran last Wednesday night, got off to strong starts in each half and had a season-best performance from M.J. Young in a 65-56 victory over the Cougars.
A strong first quarter had B’ville in front 18-13, and it mostly stayed that way until the third period, B’ville managing to outscore Corcoran 21-14 in that frame to establish a winning cushion.
All through the game Corcoran had no answer for Young, who hit 10 field goals, four of them 3-pointers, while also converting 11 free throws and finishing his night with 35 points.
TeiShawn Wade helped out, earning 12 points, while Ben Leaton finished with seven points. Jeadi Higdon led Corcoran with 22 points as Abdi Gosar added 15 points.
B’ville’s girls only play once this week, at Fayetteville-Manlius on Wednesday night, but the boys have a far busier stretch, dealing with F-M Saturday after it first hosted Liverpool on Tuesday and plays Thursday at Henninger.