The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Westhill upsets Oneida in sectional quartfinal
Oneida’s historic season ends in Section III quarterfinals
No. 4seed Oneida could not hold off No. 5seed Westhill Tuesday night in the battle of the league champs.
ONEIDA, N.Y. » Oneida entered Tuesday’s Section III Class B quarterfinal tilt against Westhill as the No. 4 seed in the playoff bracket, TriValley League champs, and the 23rd best team in the state, according to the New York State Sportswriters Association, with an 18-3 record.
No. 5 seed Westhill’s resume was remarkably similar. The OHSL Liberty National champs also sported an 18-3 record and ranked as the 10th best Class B side in the state.
Westhill emerged victorious in the clash of league champions, never trailing en route to a 6454 victory.
“In the first half, we dug ourselves a little too deep getting down like we did,” Oneida coach Katie Nestler said. “We made a few adjustments at halftime, but we knew what kind of team we were, andwe knewwewere going to give themall we had in the second half. We did a nice job knocking down some shots and taking the ball hard to the basket to push the momentum our way. A couple of loose balls and bad bounces kindof got us, though, andwe just could not pull it off.”
Jenna Larabee led Westhill with a game-high 17 points. TeammateMackenzieMartin added 14, followed by Katelyn Karleski with 13.
Lauren Skibitski shared gamehigh honors with Larabee, netting 17 points to pace Oneida. Sydney Lusher added 15 for Nestler’s side, and Ella Rainbow and Julianna Cavanagh added 10 each.
Westhill took control of the contest on a 9-2 run in the first. Erica Gangemi hit a bucket and drew the foul for anand-1 play anda 5-2 edge. Back-to-back scores from MacKenzie Martin extended the Westhill lead seven points before
Skibitski ended the visitor run with a layin.
Later in the quarter, a layup by Martin pushed the Westhill advantage to 155, but Rainbow found the bottom of the net on a driving score to keep Oneida within seven at 15-8. Each team scored in the waning seconds of the first to close the quarter 17-10 in favor of Westhill.
The visitors pushed their lead to 30-18 in the second. Westhill opened the scoring two minutes into the quarter on jumpers by Imani Watts andMorgan Elmer to extend its lead to 21-10 and force an Oneida timeout. Out of the stoppage, Oneida cut into the deficit on a Cavanagh foul-line jumper off aLusher assist followed by a Rainbow 3-pointer to close within six at 21-15. Westhill answered right back with a long-ball from Watts to push the lead back to nine, closing the second quarter on a 6-2 run to carry a 3018 lead into the break.
Oneida netted the first points of the second half courtesy of a pair of Skibitski free throws. A Rainbow step-back, baseline jumper followed by a Cavanagh driving score pulled Oneida to within eight at 32-24, before Westhill ended the mini-run with a pair of Jenna Larrabee free throws.
With Westhill defenders smothering Oneida’s sharpshooting duo of Skibitski and Rainbow on the 3-point arc, Oneida turned to other scoring methods. Lusher scored Oneida’s next 10 points, attacking the lane and scoring four straight hoops on a crafty runner to keep the hosts in it.
Every time Lusher found the bottom of the net though, Westhill had an answer. Oneida’s freshman point guard netted a runner at the 4:55 mark to pull the hosts within six, 34-28, but Larrabee hit a shot in the paint, followed by a pair of free throws to put Westhill back up by ten, 38-28. Another Lusher runner trimmed the Westhill lead to single digits at 38- 30. Larabee split a pair of shots from the charity stripe on the visitors next possession before Lusher answered with another slashing score to keep Oneida within seven. Back-to-back Westhill hoops from Morgan Elmer and Martin extended the visitor lead to 43-32 with under two minutes to go in the third.
With just over a minute remaining in the third, Westhill appeared to be on the verge of blowing the contest open after Katelyn Karleski followed a Larrabee make with a shot from beyond the arc to grow the lead to 48-34, but Skitbitski knocked down a 3-pointer of her own to keep Oneida within striking distance, 48-37, heading into the final quarter of play.
Nestler’s side showed no quit in the fourth, cutting the deficit to six in the first few minutes of the fourth. At the 5:10 mark, Cavanagh sold a pass fake to open up space in the paint for a score off the glass. Skibitski took a handoff from Rainbow and drilled a 3-point shot to inch Oneida closer, 54- 46, and force a Westhill timeout with 3:24 remaining. Skibitski buried a pair of shots from the charity stripe with 3:24 to go to pull the hosts within six, but it was as close as Oneida would get.
After a pair of missed free throws byMartin, Watts secured a huge offensive rebound for Westhill, and Erica Gangemi capitalized on the second chance with a bucket. Following an empty Oneida possession, Martin grabbed an offensive rebound of her own, adding a put-back to grow the visitor lead back to double digits at 58-48 with less than three minutes left. Oneida tried to force the issue with a full-court press and capitalize on missed Westhill free throws, but the visitors were solid from the line down the stretch, going 4-of-4 in the final seconds to ice the game, 64-54.
Westhill advances to take on No. 1 seed in the bracket and 5th in the state Bishop Ludden in the Class B semifinals.
Though Oneida’s season comes to a close, the future is bright for Nestler’s side with three key starters set to return for the 201819 campaign. To her six departing seniors, the Oneida coachwished themthe best of luck as they take on future endeavors before crediting them resuscitating Oneida basketball.
“They were the foundation of this program’s turnaround.”