Much is new and exciting with the Skaneateles girls basketball program, but much work remains, too.
That was the verdict from Thursday night’s season opener, a 50-39 defeat to East Syracuse-Minoa in the Skaneateles gym, a place the Lakers won’t see in game action again for nearly four weeks.
When Jill Blasi, the one-time head coach at Bishop Ludden, succeeded Bob Braunitzer earlier this year, she, along with assistant Kara Scarson, installed a brand-new system, emphasizing a fast tempo on offense and full-court pressure on the defensive side.
Work picked up off the court, too, as the players, through a “Jog-A-Thon” held in the fall, raised more than $2,000, part of which to purchase new home and road uniforms.
In those jerseys on Thursday was a roster that included four starters back from 2010-11 – Jackie Leslie, Emily Call, Mary Buck and Elizabeth Lane. They were meeting an ESM squad that lost its opener to Baldwinsville two nights earlier.
For the most part, the Lakers’ defensive pressure worked, as it led to a rash of Spartan turnovers that persisted throughout the night.
The only downside was that Skaneateles could rarely convert those turnovers into baskets on the other end. Lane was the exception, as the freshman (who started as an eighth-grader) had seven points in the first half, keeping her side close as the Lakers trailed 18-15 at the break.
Briefly, the Lakers took the lead late in the third quarter as back-to-back 3-pointers from Lane put her side in front 27-26, only to have ESM’s Hailee DeForge convert on a three-point play seconds quarter, helping the Spartans reclaim the lead for good.
Down the stretch, ESM used a combination of strong production from Gabby Eure (18 points), DeForge (11 points, nine in the second half) and Rebecca Nelson (12 points), plus good free-throw shooting, to pull clear. By contrast, aside from Lane, no other Laker scored in double figures.
And it doesn’t get easier for the Lakers. Starting with Tuesday’s trip to Cortland, Skaneateles will play six consecutive road games, including its first five in the OHSL Liberty division, before hosting its own holiday tournament on Dec. 27-28.
