All that the Cazenovia girls basketball team’s narrow one-point defeat to an unbeaten South Jefferson side in last winter’s Section III Class B playoffs did was make the Lakers quite motivated to move further ahead in 2014-15.
Barely two weeks after practice for the new season got underway, the Lakers were on the court at Buckley Gym Tuesday night, battling Cortland, and a strong finish would help to produce a season-opening 51-39 victory over the Purple Tigers.
Cazenovia’s production did not waver over the course of the first three periods, each of those eight-minute sessions producing exactly 11 points. That didn’t create separation, though, as Cortland mostly traded baskets after falling behind in the first quarter.
Entering the final period, the Lakers clung to a 33-29 lead, but solid offensive execution and free throws down the stretch helped Cazenovia gain a double-digit margin.
Audrey Burbidge led the way, hitting on three 3-pointers to account for most of her 17 points. Maggie Johnson and Danielle Tedesco earned 10 points apiece, while Lucy Connor had seven points and Kelsi Fredericks seven points. Shea Swartout led Cortland with 15 points, but was the only Purple Tiger to hit double figures.
Meanwhile, Chittenango opened its season at Solvay, and its offense had a lot of difficulty finding the basket in a 42-23 defeat to the Bearcats.
The Bears were unable to recover from a first quarter where it managed just two points. Solvay moved in front there and spent the rest of the night building on that margin thanks to Chelsie Delperuto, whose 20 points nearly matched the entire Chittenango squad.
Julianna Grover led the Bears with eight points, but none of her teammates had more than two field goals, which came from Sarah Moon’s four points.
