In the span of less than two hours Friday night, the Skaneateles girls basketball team saw its course through the Section III Class B playoff take an unexpected turn.
But it had little to do with what the no. 4 seed Lakers did by itself, knocking out no. 12 seed Bishop Ludden 55-43 in its sectional quarterfinal game, and a lot to do with what was going on in East Syracuse.
Just as Skaneateles and Ludden worked through their game’s early stages, word spread that top seed Bishop Grimes, the state’s no. 3-ranked team with an 18-1 record, was out, stunned on its home court by no. 8 seed Westhill 45-43.
That development would bring an abrupt change to the Lakers’ future plans, though first it had to make sure the Gaelic Knights were subdued, and that task was difficult enough.
Ludden had got here by surprising no. 5 seed Cazenovia 46-39 in the opening round. The two sides had split their regular-season meetings in December, each side winning at home.
Skaneateles had lost in the Dec. 1 season opener at Ludden, 57-42, despite Elizabeth Lane surpassing 1,000 career points, but then won the rematch 48-40 less than three weeks later.
Oddly, the Lakers lost the first game where the Gaelic Knights’ top player, Danielle Rauch, sat out with an ankle injury, yet got even the second time around when Rauch was back in the lineup.
Rauch was very much active, now, and Ludden had won seven of eight games heading into this quarterfinal, so Skaneateles knew it needed to play at a high level to keep its season alive.
Patience was the key in the early stages as the two sides traded baskets and runs, but the Lakers’ defensive pressure began to have an impact in the second quarter, the Gaelic Knights constantly turning it over.
Seizing the advantage, Skaneateles outscored Ludden 14-5 in that frame to gain a 27-17 halftime lead, and it would spend the rest of the night offering emphatic answers any time the Gaelic Knights tried to get closer, with Rauch gathering up 18 points.
Lane threatened a triple-double, but was glad to settle for 16 points, nine rebounds and seven assists as Bailey Herr took over in the paint with 15 rebounds to go with her 14 points. Shannon Foehl added 15 points and seven rebounds, while Kelsey Kraetz grabbed 12 rebounds and Olivia Dobrovosky got six points and six rebounds.
With Ludden out of the way, Skaneateles (14-6) could not focus on next Friday’s sectional semifinal at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena.
And instead of a daunting challenge against Bishop Grimes, it’s now a chance at payback against a Westhill side the Lakers lost to twice in a nine-day span, by scores of 63-58 (on Dec. 30) and 48-35 (on Jan. 8). Get even here, and Skaneateles can return to SRC Arena March 7 to face South Jefferson or Hannibal with the sectional title on the line.
