CENTRAL NEW YORK – An active and exciting regular season for area high school girls basketball teams was nearing an end and even the sides which had struggled for large portions of the winter were turning it around.
Fayetteville-Manlius pulled off one of the winter’s most surprising results when it went to Bishop Ludden last Tuesday night and, with a brilliant second-half performances, upended the Gaelic Knights 47-35.
What was important early was that Ludden could not get away from the Hornets, and the 24-16 margin it would take to the break was gone by the end of the third quarter.
F-M limited the Gaelic Knights to just four points in that frame, found itself in front and kept it going down the stretch, Macie Davey anchoring a defense which locked down in particular on Sophia Chemotti (just one 3-pointer) and Elizabeth Gaughan, who was shut out.
Lydia Land-Steves led all scorers with 15 points adding six rebounds, seven assists and three steals. Taylor Novack got 12 points as part of a double-double with 11 rebounds. Jordyn Shapiro earned eight points
Davey, aside from her 10 rebounds, also produced six points, which Jane Ryan equaled. Ava Carpenter and Abby Reynolds paced Ludden with 13 points apiece, most of it in the early going.
Two nights later hosting West Genesee, F-M nearly got another big victory, only to fall in overtime to the Wildcats 65-62.
Trying to avenge a 73-59 defeat in January in Camillus, the Hornets overcame an early deficit, took the lead in the second quarter and found itself still in front 38-34 by the end of the third period.
When it was needed, though, WG got production from the trio of Bella Quinones, Alaina Dudzinski and Jordyn Townes, both in catching up at 53-53 to force OT and then outscoring the Hornets 12-9 in the extra period.
Quinones finished with 22 points, while Dudzinski set a season mark with 19 points, while Townes gained 16 points. In defeat, F-M got 24 points from Novack and 21 points from Land-Steves, Davey adding eight points.
Another high-scoring game on Saturday involved F-M facing Henninger, but the Hornets won it, outlasting the Black Knights 78-66 as it earned 48 second-half points, by far its best half of production this season.
Novack, on her way to 29 points, and Land-Steves, gaining 25 points, combine to sink nine 3-pointers. Ryan added seven points as Henninger had Inese Odom and Sanai Lee earn 19 points apiece.
Christian Brothers Academy followed its big Feb. 7 win over Bishop Grimes with a 52-36 decision over Syracuse Academy of Science where a 16-4 second-quarter spurt counted for most of the margin.
Cara Macaluso and Liana Thomas, with 10 points apiece, led the Brothers’ well-balanced attack. Ryann Murphy had eight points, with Maya White adding seven points and Juliette Zimmerman earning six points.
Later in the week CBA won again, handling Chittenango 49-32 as it cooled down a Bears side which had won four in a row and seven of its last eight games.
Outscoring Chittenango 28-15 in the course of the second and third periods to account for most of its margin, the Brothers got a game-high 15 points from Thomas. Macaluso added nine points and Zimmerman eight points as it held the Bears’ top scorer, Abby Scheidelman, to just 10 points, well below her season average.
