Chittenango — For at least one week, Chittenango held the boys basketball spotlight to itself, free of interference from its neighbors down the road.
Since most of its potential players were going after a state Class B football championship, Cazenovia had to push back both of its opening-week games. Now the Lakers will face Mexico on Dec. 14 and Solvay on Jan. 9.
As a result, the Bears could gain some much-needed attention, but only if it reversed years of struggles and started to produce on the court again.
At least the first act went well for Chittenango, who ventured to Jordan-Elbridge last Tuesday night and, led by hot-shooting Zack Falkenburg, unleashed plenty of offense on the Eagles while earning a 70-48 victory.
Outscoring J-E in each quarter, the Bears grabbed a 21-12 edge through one period. Then it started the second half strong, too, getting 20 points in that frame to make sure the Eagles never got too close.
Falkenburg converted on 10 field goals, five of them 3-pointers, and set a career mark with 25 points, but he was just one of four Chittenango players to reach double figures.
Eli Kim and Matt MIlliman each hit a trio of 3-pointers, Kim converting 17 points and Milliman adding 11 points, while Sam Hill got 10 points. For J-E, Brandon Macvicz, with 11 points, and Sam Robles, with 10 points, led the way.
In its home opener on Friday, the Bears faced Central Valley Academy, and with Kim putting together a career-best performance, Chittenango silenced the Thunder, prevailing by a score of 67-54.
Steadily throughout the first half, Chittenango gained control, and were up 29-21 on CVA at the break. But then Kim helped seal it during a 24-10 third-quarter outburst, working his total to 29 points, mostly from hitting six 3-pointers to go with two other field goals and seven successful free throws.
continued — And it wasn’t like Kim worked alone, since Falkenburg chimed in with 13 points and Hunter Hendrix, with 10 points, also hit double figures. Michael Bergin paced the Thunder with 14 points.
As that went on, Chittenango’s girls basketball team opened with a 38-28 loss to New Hartford.
The Spartans used a 15-3 run through the third quarter to get away from the Bears, who got more than half of its production from Megan Pierce as she finished with 16 points. New Hartford got 14 points from Michaela Scarfile and 11 points from Abby Bucholz.
The girls Bears visit Tully and Jordan-Elbridge this week, but Chittenango has to wait to resume until Dec. 8, when it starts OHSL Freedom Division play against CBA before hosting Canastota three nights later.
