Two games, in two separate venues on the same bone-chilling Tuesday night, each of them Laker clashes on the basketball court between Skaneateles and Cazenovia – and each of them would prove tense, all the way to the end.
Worst of all for Skaneateles partisans, they ended in defeats by the exact same five-point margin, with the boys falling at home by a score of 56-51 and the girls taking a 58-53 overtime defeat in its visit to Buckley Gym.
Coming off a loss to defending state Class B champion Westhill on Jan. 9, Skaneateles welcomed a Cazenovia side it beat 68-60 at Buckley Gym Dec. 12 on a night where Pete Knupp hit six 3-pointers and set a career mark with 37 points.
Knupp would get nowhere near that total here, settling for 12 points, as he and his Skaneateles side spent the night chasing Cazenovia after falling behind 20-10 in the first quarter.
Thwarted on several runs, Skaneateles still pulled within seven, 31-24, by halftime, and a surge late in the third quarter made the deficit just three points, 41-38, as Jake Peterson, with 14 points, was leading the effort.
Again, Cazenovia tried to get away, building a 52-43 edge. Again, Skaneateles fought back with seven straight points, making it 52-50, still with plenty of time left.
Cazenovia held on, though, getting 20 points from Ryan Henderson and 16 points from Keaton Ackermann, with the rest of the production coming from Jake Shaffner (eight points), Evan Cornell and Kevin Ridings (six points each).
Aside from Peterson, who finished with 19 points, and Knupp, Jake Reed finished with nine points for Skaneateles, while Marc Pietropaoli had seven points.
Meanwhile, at Buckley Gym, things were a bit different, but the theme was similar, Skaneateles attempting to complete a regular-season sweep after shutting down Cazenovia 46-28 in their initial encounter on Dec. 11.
But Cazenovia, once 3-4, was riding a two-game win streak, and displayed its intentions by holding Skaneateles to six points in the first quarter, though to its credit Skaneateles rebounded and, with a hot finish to the half, led 21-18 at the break.
They would continue to go back and forth as the pace quickened in the third quarter. Skaneateles fell behind, 36-35, and saw the deficit grow to five, 49-44, with less than 30 seconds to play.
Not giving up, Skaneateles quickly hit a basket, called a time-out, and then forced a turnover that led to a tying 3-pointer with 13.5 seconds left. When a last-second Cazenovia shot banged off the rim at the buzzer, they were going to overtime.
Given the finish to regulation, Skaneateles had every right to feel like it would prevail. But Cazenovia didn’t wilt, even after Shannon Foehl’s free throws cut the visiting Lakers’ deficit to one, 54-53, with 28.3 seconds left.
Try as it could, though, Skaneateles could not make one more rally, seeing Cazenovia’s Maggie Johnson, who finished with a game-high 24 points, hit free throws in the waning seconds.
Hot outside shooting had kept Skaneateles close, with Olivia Dobrovosky making four 3-pointers on her way to 18 points and Foehl connecting three times beyond the arc as she finished with 17 points. Elizabeth Lane and Kelsey Kraetz had six points apiece.
From this, both Skaneateles teams would prevail over Hannibal on Thursday night. At home, the girls won 46-37 over the Warriors, leading throughout the first half, only to see the Warriors rally and inch in front, 21-20, midway through the third quarter.
They stayed on close terms until early in the final period, when the Lakers started hitting shots and pulled clear. Shannon Foehl finished with 16 points, three rebounds and three steals, with Dobrovosky earning 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Kraetz grabbed 14 rebounds as Lane got nine points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Meanwhile, at Hannibal, the Skaneateles boys won 56-35, using a 16-4 run in the second quarter to get away from the Warriors after a sluggish start.
Peterson again was strong in the paint, pouring in 19 points, and he got plenty of help from Knupp, who gained 15 points, and Zach Blair, who stepped up for 11 points. Pietropaoli had eight points as the Lakers improved to 8-4 and clinched a Section III Class B playoff berth.
