On many different fronts, the Cazenovia girls basketball team’s quest for a second Section III Class B championship in three years took a major boost on Saturday.
In its own weather-delayed Class B quarterfinal at Buckley Gym, Cazenovia, the no. 2 seed, put on a frightening display of defense to wipe out no. 10 seed Skaneateles 51-10, the third time it has beaten that other group of Lakers this winter.
As this was going on, top seed and defending South Jefferson got taken out, 56-50, by no. 8 seed Westhill, which gave long-time Warriors head coach Sue Ludwig her 400th career win. More importantly, that upset opened up the Class B bracket on top, as Westhill will play no. 5 seed Utica-Notre Dame in the semifinals Tuesday at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill.
As that goes on, Cazenovia (18-1) has a chance to avenge its only loss of the season to no. 3 seed Jordan-Elbridge in the other semifinal, which tips off at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Onondaga Community College. The winners meet this Sunday at 1:45 at Utica Memorial Auditorium for the sectional title.
All of the events in Adams overshadowed Cazenovia’s own impressive effort. For more than a week, the Lakers had stewed about the 50-40 defeat to J-E on Feb. 17, the lone blemish in its run to the OHSL Liberty division regular-season title.
Someone had to pay for that defeat – and it turned out to be Skaneateles, who had only made the playoffs because weather kept those Lakers from meeting Westhill in the Feb. 19 regular-season finale, when a loss would have kept Skaneateles out of the sectional tournament.
Given a reprieve, Skaneateles ousted no. 7 seed General Brown 39-36, but from the moment the game tipped off at Cazenovia, it was clear which Laker side would keep on playing.
Skaneateles did not even get on the board in the first quarter as Cazenovia reeled off 18 unanswered points. And it didn’t get much better for the visitors as Cazenovia’s ferocious defense never backed off, even during a 15-2 dash through the third period.
Raeanne Clabeaux, with 16 points, and Ellen Burr, with 15 points, both outscored Skaneateles by themselves as Taylor Malmsheimer added eight points and Colleen Dougherty six points. Ashley Stec managed just four points.
Stec, in particular, has to savor another shot at the J-E team that held her to two points in that Feb. 17 defeat. And the Lakers also are eager to prevent the Eagles’ star center, Molly Hourigan, from the triple-double (20 points, 12 blocks, 10 rebounds) she got that night.
