Happy opportunity smiled upon the Skaneateles girls basketball team just when it looked like its comeback season was about to end short of a Section III Class B playoff berth. Thanks to a Feb. 18 win over Bishop Grimes, the Lakers were 7-10 with one regular-season game remaining, against Westhill the following day. Had it played that game and lost (Westhill, at 12-5, was a considerable favorite and had beaten Skaneateles 73-33 early this season), the Lakers would not make the playoffs. But on Feb. 19 a huge snow and wind storm hit Central New York, and it was decided that the Skaneateles-Westhill game would be canceled – the best possible news for the Lakers since, by not playing, it could finish above. 400- and make the sectional tournament. Given the no. 10 seed in the sectional bracket, Skaneateles made its way north, to Dexter, to face no. 7 seed General Brown in Tuesday night’s opening round -and with a stirring late comeback, the Lakers beat the Lions 39-36. Perhaps the long bus ride had an early effect, for Skaneateles trailed 11-5 after one period before settling down and, by halftime, only trailed GB by an 18-16 margin. Yet the Lions started fast in the third quarter with an 8-0 run, making it 26-16 before head coach Bob Braunitzer could call a time-out, telling his players not to end the season like this. Sure enough, the Lakers blanked GB the rest of the period and pulled within one, 26-25, setting up a tense fourth quarter where both sides traded the lead. Skaneateles moved in front, 38-36, in the waning moments and, with 3.6 seconds left, got a free throw from Erin Tonzi to help seal the victory. Though no Laker scored in double figures, Holly Ross amassed 16 rebounds and four steals. Ashley Sheldon had 10 rebounds to go with her six points, while Emily Call led with eight points. Jackie Leslie had seven points as Elizabeth Lane put up six points, five assists and four steals. This sent Skaneateles into an imposing Class B quarterfinal at no. 2 seed Cazenovia, a team it lost to twice in the regular season. And it would fall a third time, this one a 51-10 defeat where it did not manage a single point in the first quarter and saw two Cazenovia players, Raeanne Clabeaux (16 points) and Ellen Burr (15 points), outscore them alone. That loss, though, could not erase the vast improvement Skaneateles made in 2010-11. Ross and Sheldon depart, but the return of Leslie, Lane and Erin Tonzi, plus a strong JV squad, means that the Laker program might not be done moving up.