Skaneateles — A 14-6 regular-season mark, and its strong work in the tough OHSL Liberty division, landed the Skaneateles girls basketball team the no. 6 seed in the Section III Class B playoffs, which provided, at least for the moment, a real opportunity.

Tough league foes like Westhill, Bishop Ludden and Bishop Grimes were all on the other side of the bracket, so if the Lakers got past no. 11 seed Holland Patent in last Friday night’s opening round, a winnable quarterfinal with no. 3 seed General Brown likely awaited.

First, though, Skaneateles had to handle Holland Patent – which it did, never trailing once in a game where a quick start, along with steady play through the game’s middle stages, led to an insurmountable advantage and an eventual 71-52 victory over the Golden Knights.

Having not played more than a week, Skaneateles could easily have taken some time to regain its rhythm. Instead, it burned HP for the game’s first seven points and put up a relentless pace in the first quarter, not letting up until had a 21-10 advantage.

With the three-pronged attack of Shannon Foehl, Olivia Dobrovosky and Bailey Herr each causing lots of damage, the Lakers kept adding to that margin, especially in the third quarter, where it outscored the Golden Knights 23-12 and suddenly had a 60-34 lead, out of HP’s reach.

Cruising to the end, Skaneateles saw Foehl earn 21 points, plus eight assists, six rebounds and four steals. Close behind her, Dobrovosky had 20 points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists as Herr gained 18 points to go with six steals and four steals.

Combined, the rest of the Lakers had just five field goals, but the margin was safe, despite Ally Livesey giving the Golden Knights 24 points to lead both sides.

In Tuesday night’s Class B quarterfinal, Skaneateles (15-6) faces General Brown, who shut down Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 52-18 in its opening-round test. The winner here goes to Onondaga Community College Sunday for a Class B semifinal against no. 2 seed South Jefferson or no. 7 seed Hannibal, each of whom was a team the Lakers lost to earlier this season.