A Lakers boys basketball team was guaranteed to reach the March 1 Section III Class B semifinal at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall.
Whether it’s Skaneateles or Cazenovia remains an open question, but when it came down to Friday night’s opening round of the sectional tournament, Skaneateles, holding the no. 5 seed, did quite well, pulling away to beat no. 12 seed Holland Patent 76-57.
After a full week to rest and practice, the Lakers, who fell in the sectional Class B quarterfinals to Utica-Notre Dame a year ago, entered the fray against a Golden Knights side who only had a 9-10 record and, in the Center State Conference, had not faced the same kind of competition Skaneateles had to deal with.
The refreshed Lakers could not have imagined a better start. Hitting baskets and making key defensive stops, Skaneateles led HP 22-7 by the end of the first quarter.
All through the rest of the first half, Skaneateles answered the Golden Knights’ charges, and any doubts about the outcome went away after the Lakers outscored HP 23-11 in the third period.
Pete Knupp led the way, hitting on four 3-pointers and finishing with 22 points overall. Inside, Jake Peterson put together 15 points, nine rebounds and four blocks, while Marc Pietropaoli had 10 points. Jake Reed and Ben Delasin had six points apiece as Steve McGahey (20 points) and Matt Harter (19 points) accounted for most of the Golden Knights’ production.
As this went on, Cazenovia, the no. 4 seed, needed 31 points from Ryan Henderson to fend off no. 13 seed Phoenix 52-49 to set up its showdown with Skaneateles at Buckley Gym next Wednesday night in the sectional Class B quarterfinal.
The two split their regular-season meetings, Skaneateles prevailing 68-60 on Dec. 12, Cazenovia claiming the rematch 56-51 on Jan. 13. Whoever prevails in the third encounter gets Westhill or South Jefferson in the sectional semifinal.
