By CHRIS BROOKS, sports editor, wellsvillesports.com
CANISTEO — The first eight minutes were incredibly electrifying for the Lady Redskins of Canisteo-Greenwood in what was their final regular season home game of the season, as they held visiting Cuba-Rushford in a complete freeze with a scoreless run to set the tone immediately, building a lead they would never lose to remain undefeated with a 57-27 win over the Lady Rebels on Tuesday.
Lillian Mullen was the biggest contributor to Canisteo-Greenwood’s (16-0) incredible start to the night on their home floor. The team as a collective would hold Cuba-Rushford at a standstill with a scoreless 22-0 jaunt, with Mullen netting 15 of the team’s points from within the frame to set up shop. The Lady Redskins junior would finish leading all scorers with a game-high 18 points to pair with six assists.
The Lady Rebels (6-7) would chip away at the deficit with a strong finish to the end of the first half, as Taylor Searle and Brynn Lavery combined to record all 12 of the team’s points. But the hosts in white and red would pull away in the third quarter, posting one final run of their opposition propelled by Brooke Burd from down low, netting eight of her 15 points in the stanza.
Burd would finish right behind Mullen on the scoresheet, recording 15 points to go alongside with four rebounds and three blocks — the latter assisting in eclipsing the century mark in her career. Bailey Mullen was the third and final Lady Redskins sharpshooter to surpass the 10-point mark, hitting it on the nose directly to go with six rebounds and four steals.
Elaine Roach and Hailey Davis each grabbed six additional boards for the hosts, who will wrap up regular season play in Addison at 7:15 p.m. on Thursday.
Cuba-Rushford was led by Searle, who posted a team-high 16 points. Lavery finished with six points, while Cloey Larabee rounded off the scoring with the remaining five points.
The Lady Rebels will look to bounce back inside the Wighthouse Friday night, as they welcome in the Houghton Academy Lady Panthers for a 6 p.m. visit.
Cuba-Rushford 0 12 9 6 – 27
Canisteo-Greenwood 22 14 16 5 – 57
CUBA-RUSHFORD: Cloey Larabee 2 0-0 5, Brynn Lavery 2 2-2 6, Aleah Demick 0 0-2 0, Taylor Searle 6 2-2 16, Raegan Poore 0 0-2 0. Totals: 10 4-8 27.
CANISTEO-GREENWOOD: Bailey Mullen 4 2-3 10, Elaine Roach 2 1-2 5, Kennedy Richardson 0 1-2 1, Lillian Mullen 8 0-2 18, Peyton Peters 3 0-3 6, Brooke Burd 7 1-4 15, Sara Coddington 1 0-0 2. Totals: 25 5-16 57.
3-point goals: C-R 3 (Searle 2, Larabee), C-G 2 (L. Mullen).
Total Fouls: C-R 11, C-G 8. Fouled out: Poore (C-R).
Hammondsport 44, Friendship/Scio 34
SCIO — A long week of basketball ahead for Friendship/Scio began back on Monday with Andover/Whitesville, and continued the very next night right back in Scio on Tuesday with red hot Hammondsport in town for a visit.
Friendship/Scio looked to bounce back after a hard-fought battle with their League counterparts, as they raced stride for stride with the Lady Lakers across the first half. But in the remaining 16 minutes, the visitors would find an opening to invent a winning edge, docking a pair of 11-point quarters to close out the evening on the attack, extending their lead along the way to claim a 44-34 triumph.
Both teams fought tooth and nail across the first half of play in a frame of basketball where Hammondsport was able to maintain possession of an early lead they took from a defensive first quarter, deadlocking with Friendship/Scio (9-5) in the second to remain ahead with a 22-19 lead.
Still within arm’s reach of the Lady Lakers going into the second half, the time to make a move for the hosts was now. But for the visitors in black and purple, they capitalized on big punctuation themselves, as they posted a pair of 11-point quarters in the third and fourth, allowing themselves to garner just enough space to maintain traction on their eventual victory.
Before being fouled out of the battle, Nevaeh Ross took charge of the Friendship/Scio offense with her team-high 18 points, pairing them with 12 rebounds along with five steals to complete a double-double performance. Kadence Donohue was just a few rebounds shy of a double-double herself, contributing 10 points and grabbing six additional boards, while Kiara Grover had four points.
Friendship/Scio will now aim to bounce back with another road trip in store for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, visiting Genesee Valley/Belfast in the Jungle in Belmont.
Hammondsport 9 13 11 11 – 44
Friendship/Scio 6 13 8 7 – 34
HAMMONDSPORT: LaZell Locey 4 0-0 8, Danica Dresser 9 1-1 21, Rachel Wood 1 1-2 3, Sam Pratt 5 0-1 12. Totals: 2-4 44.
FRIENDSHIP/SCIO: Nevaeh Ross 7 4-7 18, Avery Lamberson 0 0-2 0, Kadence Donohue 3 3-4 10, Morghyn Ross 1 0-0 2, Kiara Grover 2 0-1 4. Totals: 13 7-14 34.
3-point goals: Hammondsport 4 (Dresser 2, Pratt 2), F/S 1 (Donohue).
Total Fouls: Hammondsport 19, F/S 12. Fouled out: Pratt (HAM), N. Ross (F/S).
Genesee Valley/Belfast 42, Arkport/Canaseraga 24
BELFAST — Genesee Valley/Belfast could not have issued a better way to set fire to the offense on Tuesday. Looking to shake things off in order to get back on track, they would go on to do just that and much more, posting a massive first quarter run against visiting Arkport/Canaseraga — the beginning of a dominant performance in Belfast, as the hosts strolled forward towards a 42-24 win.
“We played very well in the first half to open things up. We started to get into some foul trouble, which really slowed us down in the second half, but the way we put things together tonight was incredible,” said GV/Belfast coach Jim Schneider. “We’re fortunate to keep their two bigs in the middle at bay. We were very strong defensively. I was able to give some of the younger kids some great minutes off the bench, so they were ready to step up before and after Anna (Drozdowski) and Mary (Hamer) both came out of the game.”
The hosts never looked in the rearview mirror again after the opening eight minutes started an enormous run they would carry all the way to the end, beginning it with complete dominance on both ends of the floor, as Genesee Valley/Belfast (8-6) posted a 20-1 run of Arkport/Canaseraga with four different contributors all pitching in to help the cause.
The Genesee Valley/Belfast defense would go on to hold the Lady Wolves to just six points altogether, across the first three quarters of play, while they capitalized on big points back the other way to cushion their lead insurmountably.
Mary Hamer and Anna Drozdowski both had a hand at providing big nights on the attack for the hosts, combining to record 22 of the team’s 42 points, with Hamer leading the charge behind her 12 game-high points. Drozdowski added in 10 points, while Abby Sullivan followed with nine.
Genesee Valley/Belfast will look to keep the ball rolling into Thursday when they head back down the road into the Jungle, as they welcome in Friendship/Scio for a 7:30 p.m. visit.
Arkport/Canaseraga 1 2 3 18 – 24
Genesee Valley/Belfast 20 12 4 6 – 42
ARKPORT/CANASERAGA: Reese Payne 1 0-2 2, Grace Groves 1 0-0 3, Jacey Payne 1 0-0 3, Payton O’Dell 0 3-4 3, Morgan Gilbert 1 1-2 3, Caitlyn Gilman 4 2-4 10. Totals: 8 7-12 24.
GV/BELFAST: Anna Drozdowski 4 1-6 10, Abby Sullivan 4 0-0 9, Harley Proctor 1 0-0 2, Kendra Bigelow 0 0-4 0, Adison Grusendorf 2 0-0 4, Madison McKenzie 2 0-0 5, Mary Hamer 6 0-0 12. Totals: 19 1-10 42.
3-point goals: A/C 2 (Groves, J. Payne), GVB 3 (Drozdowski, Sullivan, McKenzie).
Total Fouls: A/C 12, GVB 15. Fouled out: Drozdowski (GVB), Hamer (GVB).
