It was too early to say that the Cazenovia girls basketball team was reaching a crisis point, but there was reason for concern in the wake of another week of tough results.
The Lakers’ early-season gauntlet had proved tough, with a near-upset of defending Section III Class B champion Westhill sandwiched in between a tough road win at Utica-Notre Dame and a loss to Cortland.
And Cazenovia had little time to regroup, for right after facing the Purple Tigers on Dec. 4, the Lakers were making another road trip, to Hannibal, and struggling last Monday in a 54-36 defeat.
Hannibal, who shares the Warrior nickname with Westhill, played stifling first-half defense, never letting Cazenovia get into any sort of rhythm. Thus, the Lakers trailed, 28-14 at halftime, and though it made up some of that gap in the third quarter, Hannibal pulled away late.
Kaylee Cunningham led with 10 points, with Lucy Connor adding nine points. Danielle Tedesco had eight points and Saige Ackermann contributed seven points, while Hannibal got big outings from McKenzie Mattison, who had 19 points, and Sydney Alton, who earned 14 points.
Now Cazenovia looked to break that three-game skid when it hosted Skaneateles Friday night at Buckley Gym. Instead, it fell into further trouble during a 46-25 defeat to that other group of Lakers.
Most of the first half was close and low-scoring, but a 3-pointer by Skaneateles right before the break, which made it 22-13 in the visitor’s favor, turned things around, and led to a third quarter where Cazenovia got outscored 17-2, never to recover.
Tedesco managed nine points, with Lucy Connor contributing six points. On the Skaneateles side, Shannon Foehl hit five 3-pointers to account for most of her 17 points as fellow guard Olivia Dobrovosky earned 11 points.
On Tuesday night, the Lakers visits Marcellus, followed by a Thursday trip to Altmar-Parish-Williamstown and a Dec. 21 game at Solvay. Cazenovia is not home again until Jan. 6, when it faces Bishop Ludden.
