MADISON COUNTY – Having split two head-to-head meetings early in March, the girls basketball teams at Cazenovia and Chittenango still had plenty of game action to go through before their seasons would end.
Cazenovia took on DeRuyter last Monday night and earned its second victory of the season, getting off to a near-perfect start on the way to a 50-19 victory over the Rockets.
During those first eight minutes, the Lakers forced a string of DeRuyter turnovers and converted them into baskets, not letting up until it had a 21-2 advantage.
Breezing from there, Cazenovia saw Carleigh Szalach finish with 17 points and Hadley Schug step up to earn 11 points. Katie Rajkowski finished with 12 points and Lily Clonan had six points.
Just 24 hours later, the Lakers went to Hamilton, overcoming a mid-game slump with a strong closing push to defeat the Emerald Knights 49-43.
An early 14-7 advantage went away when Hamilton buzzed through the second quarter 17-6, but from there the Lakers’ defense improved as it figured out what the Emerald Knights wanted to do.
In the fourth quarter, Cazenovia outscored Hamilton 15-8 to go in front for good, the comeback led by Szalach, who had 17 points, but also featuring Anna Edwards getting a season-best 13 points.
Schug, with nine points, and Clonan, with eight points, also got close to double figures as Lindsey Speer, with 13 points, and Kyleigh Pearson, with 12 points, paced the Emerald Knights.
Back on the court Thursday, Cazenovia got off to a brutal start against Homer, shut out in the first quarter and surrendering 22 unanswered points.
Finally, the Lakers got on the board, but it never recovered as it lost 64-36 to the Trojans, who were paced by Grace Patriarco’s 22 points.
During Friday’s narrow 49-48 defeat in a rematch against Hamilton, Cazenovia’s poor second quarter led to a halftime deficit that it nearly erased when it outscored the Emerald Knights 17-10 in the final period.
Szalach put 20 points with help from Rajkowski (10 points) and Schug (nine points), yet Hamilton maintained its slim margin at the end as Brooke Speer led them with 20 points of her own.
Chittenango also began its homestretch with a victory, fending off Homer 54-49 last Tuesday night to follow up a 44-34 victory over Christian Brothers Academy on March 6.
An 18-3 second-quarter surge erased Homer’s early advantage, but the Trojans staged its own comeback, outscoring Chittenango 25-10 in the third quarter.
Now tied 41-41, the Bears held the Trojans to eight points in the final period and went back in front for good, led by Sarah Lanphear’s career-best 23 points as she and Mia McReynolds, who had 11 points, both hit on three 3-pointers. Emily Moon got 16 points in the paint as Sarah Sovocool paced Homer with 19 points.
This improved the Bears to 5-3 overall and clinched a winning record, which it hoped to further enhance in last Wednesday’s game against Cortland.
Here, the Bears would prevail again, 48-41, without as many momentum shifts. Instead, a close first half was followed by Chittenango outscoring the Purple Tigers 15-5 in the third quarter.
Moon remained steady, earning 15 points, while McReynolds again connected on three 3-pointers to finish with 11 points as Avery Salce got eight points.
