The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Oneida girls take on Chittenango Bears
ONEIDA, N.Y. » Entering the halftime break of Saturday’s contest against Chittenango, the Oneida girls basketball team held a modest four point lead over the visiting Bears.
After racing out to a 10-1 lead less than two minutes into the contest, coach Katie Nestler’s Oneida side was unable to put the Bears away for good.
“We came out and hit some shots early,” Nestler said. “We kind of got them sitting back on us. Chittenango is a very good team, well- coached by coach (Kassie) Kleine. They just made a few adjustments that we did not react to too well to begin with. After a second quarter that did not go our way, we went in and got back to the drawing board.”
Coming out of halftime, Nestler’s squad caught fire again, ripping off a 14-point run, this time, putting the Bears away for good en route to a 72-49 victory at home.
Four different players reached double figures for the hosts in what was an impressive offensive performance.
Freshman Ella Rainbow finished with a game-high 21 points, draining four shots from behind the arc.
“Ella was an eighth-grader on our team last year coming off the bench,” Nestler said. “She has matured so much as a young player. When she is on her game, it is tough to stop her. She got on a nice little roll for us and made some shots.”
Fellow ninth- grader Sydney Lusher posted a double- double with 12 points and 10 assists from the point guard position. Junior Lauren Skibitski recorded 20 points, and senior Julianna Cavanagh notched 16.
“Sydney Lusher is the kid you want on the court at all times, a very savvy point guard,” Nestler said. “Lauren Skibitski is an outstanding player as well. When her shot is rolling, her whole game steps up a notch...those three players are kind of the catalyst for our team to get going.”
Alivia Naroolis paced Chittenango with 13 points.
Skibitski got things going for Oneida coming out of the halftime break with a driving basket. Moments later, Rainbow sunk a 3-pointer to grow the Oneida lead to 36-27. After another lay-in and a foul shot from Cavanagh, and Oneida was up 39-27. Lusher followed on Oneida’s next possession with a trip to the foul line, where she sank both shots. Skibitski found space in the paint again seconds later for a layup to cap the 14-point Oneida run. Chittenango’s Sydney Bennett ended the run by sinking one of two from the foul line on the next possession, but with 4:40 left to play in the third, Oneida had retaken a commanding, 46-28 lead.
Skibitski and Chittenango’s Mekenzie Dahlin traded three-pointers after Bennett’s foul line trip, followed by back-toback open layups by Rainbow and Cavanagh as the Oneida offense worked the ball around. Dahlin followed with a lay-in of her own to trim Oneida’s lead back to 17 at 50-33, but Lusher responded with a runner that found the bottom of the net, followed by a Rainbow make of a Skibitski assist tomake it 55-33. Skibitski hit a buzzer beater toclose out the thirdperiod with a commanding, 59-40 Oneida lead.
Aided by offensive rebounds during its second quarter comeback, Chittenango was kept off the glass in the second half as Cavanagh and Anna Hood collected seven and 10, respectively, something Nestler commended the two seniors for after the game.