A year’s worth of work, effort and sacrifice has brought the Chittenango boys basketball team to the brink of a Section III Class B championship again – and the path toward that long-elusive title is quite familiar.
Just like in 2017, the Bears had to survive a tense sectional semifinal against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, this time rallying from a double-digit deficit to push past the Red Devils 69-62 in overtime Saturday night at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena.
And similar to a year ago, winning the title will require beating the reigning champions from Westhill, only now the stage shifts to the Carrier Dome for the final that takes place next Sunday at 3:30.
Head coach John Clancy said the key to beating Westhill involves seeing them often up-close – which Chittenango has done, including last year’s title game and two regular-season meetings the sides split.
“We’ve played Westhill enough now,” said Clancy. “Our kids are confident. They think they can win.”
But they almost didn’t get there. VVS, the no. 2 seed bent on avenging last winter’s sectional semifinal defeat to the Bears, led most of the way, the Red Devils’ margin getting as large as 12 in the third quarter on two occasions.
“For a while, we were in big trouble,” said Clancy.
What brought Chittenango back was outside shooting, especially that of reserve Paul Wood, who notched eight points in a 19-7 run that, capped by Zach Faleknburg’s 3-pointer, tied it, 50-50, by the middle of the fourth quarter.
Another 3-pointer from Wood gave the Bears a 55-54 lead with 32 seconds left, but VVS still had a chance and pushed the ball to forward Andrew Roden, who had 14 straight points in the third quater.
Roden missed a short jumper, and Sam Hill was fouled with 7.8 seconds left. Hill missed the front end of a one-and-one, and the Red Devils got it back, again feeding it to Roden, who drew a foul with 3.0 seconds to play.
Two successful free throws would get VVS in front, but Roden only made the first one, tying it 55-55 and ultimately sending it to OT.
Here, the Bears played its best. Dylan Voutsinas, kept quiet most of the game, hit a crucial 3-pointer, and Wood returned to again connect from beyond the arc, as all of his 14 points came in the third quarter and OT.
Falkenburg, a consistent force throughout the night, had 26 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Matt Lanphear contributed a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds.
All of this followed Westhill’s comfortable 60-39 semifinal win over Homer. Clancy said that the defeat to the Warriors in the 2017 sectional final created, for the returning players, a goal of getting back to the title game that is now fulfilled, and the players know the task ahead.
“If we play our best, we have a chance,” said Falkenburg.
