MADISON COUNTY – Having gone up and down through the early portion of its truncated campaign, the Cazenovia boys basketball team wanted to show improvement.
The last week of the season provided four game opportunities for the Lakers in the wake of a stretch where it had lost twice to neighbor Chittenango, handled Jordan-Elbridge and fell in overtime to Marcellus.
It all started last Monday night when the Lakers faced Cortland, from the Class A ranks, and saw the Purple Tigers produce plenty in the early and late stages to prevail 58-47.
Alex Moesch, almost by himself, kept the game within reach, amassing 28 points, but no other Laker had more than the eight points put up by Patrick Linck.
Far more balanced, Cortland featured Max Gambitta and Noah Armstrong each earning 15 points and Tyler Blake getting 14 points, plus 10 rebounds.
Hosting Hamilton 24 hours later, the Lakers lost again, 57-51, a close contest where, after the Emerald Knights went up 19-15 in a high-scoring first quarter, the rest of the game was a back-and-forth affair.
Moesch gained 19 points as A.J. Rothfeld earned 12 points, with Linck (nine points) and Jack Byrnes (eight points) also nearing double figures.
Still, Hamilton held on as Ryan Rutledge led with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Tom Simpson gained 16 points, with Sami Cigeroglu notching 10 rebounds and five blocks and Zach LaFrance adding 14 points.
Breaking this skid, Cazenovia went up again in Thursday’s game against Homer, overcoming a rough start to handle the Trojans 62-43.
A 25-point second quarter helped the Lakers overcome the Trojans’ early advantage, and its defense held the Trojans to just 14 points the entire second half.
Nearly half of Linck’s 19 points came from three 3-pointers, with Moesch contributing 12 points. Rothfeld gained eight points, Brody Coleman had seven points and Byrnes finished with six points.
Another game with Hamilton on Friday proved more successful for the Lakers, who took out the Emerald Knights 64-49 to close out its season.
Chittenango had a successful start to its last week of action, handling Homer 73-57 despite trailing most of the first half after a hot start from the Trojans.
Gradually, the Bears’ 20-13 deficit went away and then, in the third quarter, it outscored Homer 24-9 to take charge as Tyrus Kelly set a new career standard, pouring in 26 points.
Kelly wasn’t alone, either, as Bryce Bishop got 15 points and James Miller had 13 points. Jacob Dawkins contributed nine points and Aiden Cavotta earned six points.
Making it back-to-back wins on Wednesday night, and climbing above the .500 mark (5-4), Chittenango pulled out a 48-46 decision over Cortland as it held the Purple Tigers to single-digit point totals in each of the last three quarters.
Meanwhile, the offense did just enough, Kelly netting 17 points and Bishop getting 11 points to help offset the 19 points put up by Cortland’s Max Gambitta.
It was just as close on Friday, Chittenango jumping out 14-2 on Solvay and maintaining a comfortable edge until the fourth quarter, when the Bearcats outscored them 17-5 and nearly caught up.
Still, the Bears held on for a 44-41 victory led again by Kelly, whose 17 points was augmented by 11 points from Miller and 10 points from Bishop.
And Chittenango went to 7-4 on Saturday when it upended Oneida 53-46, avenging an earlier defeat to the Indians by jumping out 17-4 in the first quarter and never getting caught.
Kelly, with 22 points that included five 3-pointers, and Miller, with 17 points, accounted for most of the Bears’ offense. Bishop contributed seven points.
