When the Westhill girls basketball hosted Solvay Friday night, it did so without sole possession of first place in the OHSL Liberty division. During an eight-day stretch from Jan. 8-15, the Warriors had beaten Bishop Ludden, Jordan-Elbridge and Marcellus at home, taking that league lead. But when Westhill went to Phoenix last Tuesday night, all that magic vanished, especially in the late stages of a 39-30 loss to the Firebirds. Ignoring its 4-8 mark, Phoenix held Westhill to just four points in the first quarter, and the Warriors found itself trailing 22-15 at the break before erasing most of that deficit in the third period. Still, the Firebirds would not fold, and with Kaylee May (12 points), Britney Sears (11 points) and Mary Bergman (nine points) setting the pace, Phoenix regained control in the late going. All Westhill could manage was three points in the fourth quarter, the team getting little outside Kathryn Christensen’s 17 points as it had just four field goals from the rest of the squad. This led to Solvay, and feeling some urgency, Westhill parlayed a pair of timely runs to a 53-35 win over the Bearcats. Not wasting any time, the Warriors (11-2) grabbed a 16-7 edge by the end of the first quarter. When Solvay closed the gap to 22-16 by halftime, Westhill answered with a big third-period push that involved outscoring the Bearcats 19-8 to put the game away. Emily Haggerty, quiet in the Phoenix game, roared on this night, earning 19 points, including four 3-pointers, as Anna Ross also returned to form with 11 points. Kayla Stirpe added nine points. Solvay’s Tessa Pucello led her side with 16 points as Abbey Jones added nine points. Solvay first had to face Marcellus, burning from its own defeat to Westhill the week before, as the Mustangs fought its way past the Bearcats 48-43. Marcellus held Solvay to just three points in the first quarter, yet watched the Bearcats rally to forge a 19-19 halftime tie. They stayed even until the final period, when the Mustangs finally inched ahead for good. Marie Temara, with 17 points, set the pace for the Mustangs as Jessie Nye had a season-best 11 points. Melissa Lee and Emily Brissette each had seven points. Solvay had Abbey Jones (12 points) and Tessa Pucello (11 points) reach double figures as Denyel Busch got seven points and Amanda Bigness earned six points. Now lodged right behind Westhill and Bishop Ludden in the OHSL Liberty race, the Mustangs stayed there Friday with a hard-fought 38-31 win at Skaneateles. This was a troubling game for a while, as Skaneateles, despite its 1-12 mark, led 17-16 at halftime. Even as it sensed the trouble and went out in front in the third quarter, the Mustangs still had to work all the way to the end. For Marcellus (11-3), it took all of its front-line power to prevail, as Temara pounded her way to 16 points and Lee added 14 points, her best total in weeks. Jordan Dudden led Sknaeateles with just seven points.