Skaneateles — Having roared to a 5-0 start, the Skaneateles boys basketball team would get its biggest test of the season so far when it took on two-time defending state Class B champion Westhill Thursday night.

For a while, the Lakers would keep pace, but the Warriors gradually took over in the second half on both sides of the court and prevailed, 70-51, to give Skaneateles its first defeat of the season.

Even without the star duo of Jordan Roland and Tyler Reynolds that propelled them to back-to-back state Class B titles, Westhill was still a formidable force, arriving in Skaneateles with a 4-1 record though it had just two seniors (Ryan Roland and Chase Gedney) on the roster.

Marc Pietropaoli gave the Lakers an early spark, scoring his team’s first eight points and 10 overall in the first quarter. Despite that, Westhill inched into a 21-16 lead, and maintained that edge the rest of the half as Ryan Roland got 10 of his 19 points in the second quarter.

Only down by six, 36-30, at halftime, Skaneateles saw the game slip away in the third quarter when the Warriors tightened up its defense, closing down lanes to the basket that the Lakers had used to convert often in the first half. It also went inside more to Gedney, who netted eight of his 12 points in that decisive period.

Westhill ultimately had five players score in double figures – Roland (who also had seven assists), Gedney and Matukas, plus Kameren Jackson and Antonio Scrimale, who netted 10 points apiece as Jackson tacked on seven rebounds and four assists.

For Skaneateles, Pietropaoli cooled off after that opening period, but still led his side with 17 points. Jake Reed had 11 points, with Zach Blair adding nine points, but Westhill did a terrific job containing Pete Knupp, holding him to a season-low three points.

continued — The Lakers nearly didn’t reach that game unblemished. Hosting Solvay two nights earlier, the Lakers steadily built up a lead, but had to get a big night on the boards from Jake Reed in order to hang on and beat the Bearcats 57-53.

Ultimately, Skaneateles didn’t get hurt much by a first half where Solvay’s defense defense did a solid job of containment, but could not exploit that situation on the other end. This allowed the Lakers to overcome those struggles and lead, 24-18, at the break.

Try as it could to get away in the second half, Skaneateles could not do so – and Solvay, trailing 40-33, made a big fourth-quarter push, led by a balanced attack where Jake Dippold got 13 points, Blake Bagozzi added 12 points and Mike Yaizzo added 11 points, with Sammy Kippen (nine points) nearly joining them in double figures.

But the Lakers held on in large part because Reed kept grabbing Solvay’s missed shots, piling up a career-best 16 rebounds to go with his 14 points. Helping out, Justin McClanahan had a career-best 12 points, with Pietropaoli also getting 12 points and Knupp picking up 11 points.

On Tuesday, Skaneateles would look to rebound from the Westhill loss when it hosted Syracuse Academy of Science.