For the Skaneateles girls basketball team, its quest for the OHSL Liberty American division regular-season championship will go down to the last game of the regular season.

The Lakers, 8-4 in league play, will have a first-place showdown with Jordan-Elbridge (7-4 in league play)next Friday night.

And the game gained more intrigue when the Eagles’ top player, Holy Cross-bound senior Molly Hourigan, injured her knee late in a loss to Cazenovia Thursday, threatening her availability for the Skaneateles game.

a pair of impressive home wins that assured at least a .500 regular-season mark in head coach Jill Blasi’s first campaign.

First, Skaneateles dispatched Cazenovia, 53-33, in a battle of Laker teams far removed from the 42-40 drama of their first meeting Dec. 13 at Buckley Gym.

Things turned in the second quarter. Skaneateles was down, 8-7, when it caught fire and outscored Cazenovia 22-6 the rest of the half. The margin grew to 42-24 by the end of the third quarter.

Jackie Leslie sank four 3-pointers and would lead both sides with 16 points. Elizabeth Lane contributed 13 points, while Joanna Dobrovosky finished with 11 points. Maggie Carpenter led Cazenovia with 13 points.

Two nights later, Skaneateles hosted Solvay, and a big second-quarter surge was all the Lakers needed to put away the Bearcats 55-36 and improve to 9-8 overall.

It was 9-7 through one quarter, but for the rest of the half the Lakers cranked up its pressure, forcing a series of Solvay turnovers and converting them into baskets. That allowed Skaneateles to close the half 22-3, establishing a margin that held up the rest of the night.

Overall, the Lakers hit eight 3-pointers, three of them from Lane, who finished with 14 points overall. Dobrovosky worked inside for most of her 15 points, while Leslie connected twice beyond the arc to earn 12 points. Nicole Beatson and Amber Kingdeski also hit 3-pointers.

Once the game with J-E is done, the Lakers will find out on Sunday where it will start the Section III Class B playoffs.