Armed with just two wins earned in December, the Cazenovia boys basketball team knew a quick turnaround was required, but wondered if it would find that magic amid a tough – and crowded – early-January schedule.
And no one proved tougher than unbeaten, state Class B no. 8-ranked Bishop Grimes, who came to Buckley Gym last Tuesday night and absorbed all the physical play the Lakers threw at them before the Cobras used a string of outside shots to pull away and prevail 69-38.
Grimes had roared to an 8-0 start under head coach Bob McKenney, who took over for the Cobras after his long, storied tenure at Jamesville-DeWitt (which included four state Class A championships and coaching the likes of Andy Rautins, Brandon Triche and Dajuan Coleman) ended in controversy.
Going in, the Lakers knew it had to slow the game’s tempo down, and it did so in the first quarter, using its zone defense to make stops and gain a 10-9 edge. That lead grew to 16-12 in the second period before Grimes, using full-court pressure, began to wear down Cazenovia’s ball-handlers.
That caused turnovers, and by the time the Lakers adjusted, it trailed, 30-21, at halftime, but it got worse in the third quarter. Hot 3-point shooting, combined with defense, allowed the Cobras to outscore Cazenovia 39-15 the rest of the way.
Dan Kent’s four 3-poitners helped him lead the hosts with 14 points, but no one else had more than the seven points put up by Hunter Koawaleski. A.C. Ater, with 13 points, led a well-balanced Grimes attack where Luciano Vigliotti had 11 points, Shawn Gashi and Jonah Cummings each had nine points and Johnny Wike added eight points.
In the first of back-to-back weekend games, Cazenovia visited Syracuse Academy of Science, and it proved close most of the way before the Atoms prevailed, 58-46, giving head coach Onur Gokce his 100th career victory, all at SAS.
Trailing 22-9 after one period, Cazenovia shored up its defense and held SAS to four points in the second quarter. Still, it could not cut much in into the Atoms’ margin, and found that, in the second half, every run was matched with one from the hosts.
Cazenovia lost despite 14 points from Tom Bragg as Shawn Cunningham and Ben Nichols each got eight points. Symir Torrence paced SAS with 24 points as Jessie Murray added 15 points.
Then the Lakers made up the postponed early-December tilt with Solvay on Saturday afternoon. Having allowed just nine points to Hannibal in an entire game earlier in the week, the Bearcats expected success here, too – but instead ran into a desperate, tough effort by the Lakers that produced a much-needed 43-42 victory.
All through the game, the team traded baskets, rarely gaining any sort of separation. Entering the fourth quarter, Cazenovia trailed, 29-28, but edged out in front and held on behind a big effort from Bragg, who finished with 18 points as Kent added seven points.
For its part, Solvay saw Mike Yaizzo pour in 19 points and Blake Bagozzi add 12 points, but the Lakers’ defense held the rest of the Bearcats to just four combined field goals.
This win lifted Cazenovia’s record to 3-7 as it passed the midway point of a compressed regular season. By the time it was done taking on Hannibal and Oneida early this week, the Lakers would have played four games in five days – and then it has to visit two-time defending state Class B champion Westhill next Friday, only adding to the challenge.
