What the Skaneateles girls basketball team is quickly discovering is that, in senior Shannon Foehl and freshman Olivia Dobrovosky, it has an effective guard combination that can work magic against many different opponents, especially if the rest of the team helps out in their own way.
To be sure, they carried the way for the Lakers in last Tuesday’s game at Marcellus, where a big second quarter turned the game around and eventually led to a 50-43 victory over the Mustangs.
Things did not start well for Skaneateles, who was cold from the field in the first quarter and felt the heat from the Marcellus defense. When the period ended, the Lakers trailed by a 14-6 margin.
Just as quickly, though, the game turned around. Dobrovosky, in particular, caught fire, hitting all kinds of shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, on her way to 17 points for the half that helped Skaneateles inch in front, 28-26, by intermission.
Dobrovosky cooled off in the second half, managing just one free throw. But Foehl kept going, as her nine second-half points gave her 17 for the night and helped the Lakers fend off all of the Mustangs’ charges.
Help came from the likes of Bailey Herr, who produced nine points, and Chloe Metz, who finished with six points. Marcellus saw Eve Hughes earn 11 points and six rebounds, with Shannon White adding 10 points, but Skaneateles held Liz White without a field goal all night.
Taking a much longer road trip on Friday to face another key rival, Skaneateles went to Buckley Gym to face Cazenovia, where one well-timed shot turned a close game into one that the visitors would handle with ease, winning the Laker duel by a 46-25 margin.
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.
Here was a game where outside shooting mattered a lot. Foehl hit on five 3-pointers to account for most of her 17 points, while Dobrovosky chimed in with 11 points. Helping out, Metz and Maddy Pinckney had six points apiece. No Cazenovia player had more than the nine points put up by Danielle Tedesco.
Skaneateles is back home on Monday to take on Hannibal, starting a big stretch of games before the holiday break that includes Thursday’s visit to reigning Section III Class B champion Westhill, plus games next week against Bishop Ludden and Cortland.
