All sorts of accolades were bestowed upon the Hamilton girls basketball team in the wake of winning the 2010 Section III Class D championship. And with the likes of Jordan Peterson, Katie Weeks, Sara Whyatt and Katherine Keever returning to the fold for 2010-11, head coach Jessica Poole’s Emerald Knights fully expected to continue on that winning path. Right away, though, Hamilton got humbled, as a brutal second half contributed to a 46-41 season-opening defeat to Bainbridge-Guilford in last Thursday’s opening round of the Sherburne-Earlville Tournament. It didn’t help the Emerald Knights’ cause that a massive winter snowstorm caused the team to miss three full days of practice prior to the tournament. So Hamilton spent the first quarter against Bainbridge-Guilford running back into game shape and falling behind, 13-9. Once the Emerald Knights could spring its full-court pressure, though, it turned things around, racing to a 27-19 halftime lead. From there, though, B-G took charge, erasing much of the deficit in the third period and moving ahead in the late going as Hamilton wore down and, more importantly, missed free throws. Of the 18 foul shots it attempted, the Emerald Knights only made six. Peterson accounted for more than half the offense, finishing with 24 points, while Weeks had seven points and Keever managed just three points. In the consolation game, Hamilton met Unadilla Valley, who lost 62-40 to host Sherburne-Earlville in the other part of the opening round. Here the Emerald Knights would prevail, beating Unadilla 52-44. Trailing most of the first half, Hamilton used a 17-5 spurt through the third quarter to take the lead for good and, just as importantly, showed some offensive balance along the way. Peterson, with 13 points, did not have to carry the whole load as Whyatt also put in 13 points and Weeks finished with 10 points. Canastota’s girls team also started on Friday after going 13-4 a season ago – and immediately got a big win, taking out New York Mills (a Class D finalist last winter) in a 59-44 decision. Wasting little time, the Raiders bolted out to an 18-8 lead, then outscored the Marauders 20-4 in the second quarter. This allowed Canastota to withstand a furious Mills comeback in the third period, where it got 26 points to make things a bit interesting. Shea Foster led the way for Canastota, earning 19 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Danielle Carlone and Lindsay McGinley each contributed 11 points, while Alexis Hayes picked up nine points. Morrisville-Eaton lost its opener to Waterville 64-18. Hamilton’s boys team, 3-15 a season ago, opened Friday with a 56-52 loss to Madison as it could not quite overcome a 25-18 halftime deficit to the Blue Devils. John Andrzejek and Cameron Fisher accounted for more than half the Emerald Knights’ offense, as Andrzejek had 17 points and Fisher added 16 points. No one else had more than five points, though.