Just as in all of the other team sports, the Skaneateles basketball teams carry on a rivalry with Cazenovia and desperately want to prove that it’s the better Lakers side. For a couple of nights, that’s exactly what it did.
It started with the Skaneateles girls, who played at home last Thursday night and displayed how much it had improved on the defensive end in a short amount of time while stifling Cazenovia 46-28. Two days after the postponement of a trip to Westhill, the Skaneateles girls met a Cazenovia side with which it shared equal 1-1 starts. But that’s where the equality would end. Through much of the first quarter, Skaneateles kept the visiting Lakers from a field goal, taking the lead for good. Though Cazenovia finally did get a basket and trailed, 15-8, at the end of that period, it never really recovered. All through the rest of the night, Skaneateles applied its pressure, forcing a series of rushed shots and turnovers on Cazenovia’s part. And while the offense was, at times, inconsistent, it did more than enough to expand on that lead to as much as 20 before it safely prevailed. Elizabeth Lane did a bit of everything, the senior (who notched her 1,000th career point Dec. 1 against Bishop Ludden) putting up 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while adding eight rebounds, four steals and two assists. Shannon Foehl finished with nine points, rebounds, two assists and two blocks, while Kelsey Kraetz chimed in with seven points, four rebounds and five blocks. Chloe Metz added five rebounds and Olivia Dobrovosky managed five assists, three rebounds and three steals. Just 24 hours later, the scene shifted to Buckley Gym, where the Skaneateles boys team would shock Cazenovia with an outside shooting barrage and a career-best performance from Pete Knupp that, combined, would produce a 68-60 victory. Having won its first two games of the season, Cazenovia, at first, appeared well on its way to 3-0 as eight first-quarter points from Kevin Ridings produced a 16-11 lead. But then Knupp took over, the Skaneateles guard constantly flashing open and constantly converting as he hit six 3-pointers in the first half alone, turning a deficit for the visitors into a 34-29 edge by the time they reached the break. Fighting back, Cazenovia would forge a 42-42 tie going into the fourth quarter, but again Skaneateles struck with outside shots – not from Knupp, but from his teammates, Jake Peterson and Jake Reed. Trailing 57-49 with less than three minutes left, Cazenovia pulled within four, 60-56, in the last minute, but could inch no closer. Knupp was the main story of the night. He drained those six 3-pointers and also made several free throws down the stretch (15 in all) to produce a career-high 37 points, with Reed (16 points) offering ample support and Peterson contributing nine points, all from three 3-pointers. Cazenovia lost despite 19 points from Ridings, 14 points from Keaton Ackermann and 12 points from Ryan Henderson as Jake Shaffner added eight points. Going for three in a row, the Skaneateles girls visit Hannibal on Monday before getting a second shot at Ludden on Friday night, this time on its home floor. The boys Lakers would also meet Hannibal Monday and then be off until a Dec. 22 trip to Syracuse Academy of Science.