All three local girls basketball teams still involved in the OHSL Liberty division race would win on Friday night to keep pace with each other. Westhill, tied for first with idle Bishop Ludden when the night began, temporarily broke the tie by rolling to a 57-31 victory over Skaneateles. The Warriors (13-2, 11-2 league) would outscore the Lakers in every quarter, using its defensive pressure to seize control early. Westhill’s margin grew to 42-19 by the end of the third period. Emily Haggerty led the way, her 20 points including all three of her team’s 3-pointers. Anna Ross earned 12 points half of them from six successful free throws, while Kathryn Christensen finished with 11 points. Marcellus stayed one game back of Westhill in the standings, relying on the tandem of Marie Temara and Melissa Lee to carry them to a 68-58 victory over Hannibal. Unlike so many times this season, the Mustangs pushed the tempo early, blasting out to a 21-8 lead by the time the first quarter was done. For the rest of the game, Hannibal turned to a strong inside-outside tandem to stay close. Taylor Sorell would hit six 3-pointers on her way to 25 points, while Sam April worked in the paint to get 19 points. Every time that happened, though, Marcelllus (12-3, 10-3 league) would have an answer, usually in the form of another clutch basket from Temara or Lee. Overall, Temara had 26 points, including 12 successful field goals, while Lee fought her way to 20 points. Jessie Nye, with seven points, and Meg Kinney and Emily Brissette (five points each) helped out. Still within reach of both the Warriors and Mustangs, Jordan-Elbridge improved to 9-4 on the season (7-4 league) by going to Phoenix and beating the Firebirds 43-36. Up 10-5 after one period, the Eagles, playing without star forward Molly Hourigan, slowly watched that lead melt away, especially in the third quarter as Phoenix inched in front 29-28. But J-E had the last run, outscoring the Firebirds 14-8 in the final period. Liz Caspari finished with 12 points, while Kali Davis had seven points, Amanda Wheeler six points and Natalie Andrianos five points. Kaylee May led Phoenix with 10 points. This happened as J-E’s boys team lost to Phoenix 68-64, just missing a chance to clinch a playoff spot. The Eagles nearly erased a 48-28 third-quarter deficit behind a hot run of shooting from Tom Graf, who got most of his 31 points in the final period and had six 3-pointers. Bob Gallagher, with 10 points, and Jeff Donofrio, with nine points, offered help to Graf as Phoenix’s Mark Felicia led his side with 26 points.