Even though the heavy snow didn’t hit, the Skaneateles basketball teams still saw their games against Hannibal postponed last Tuesday night, though things cleared out in time for the rest of the week.
And it culminated Friday night with an impressive effort by the girls Lakers against visiting Weedsport. Despite the Warriors’ 14-1 record and no. 3 state Class C ranking, Skaneateles, tested in so many ways in the OHSL Liberty division, met that challenge and prevailed by a 58-50 margin.
A terrific first quarter got the Lakers going as it hit plenty of shots and doubled up Weedsport, 22-11. Not content with that, Skaneateles made a 14-8 push through the third quarter to build a 47-32 advantage, which the Warriors could not overcome.
Olivia Dobrovosky led the charge, getting 18 points, but Bailey Herr was close behind, earning 14 points as Chloe Metz, with 11 points, and Shannon Foehl, with 10 points, also hit double figures.
Though Weedsport star Jesslyn Files had 28 points, she only did her damage at the foul line, converting 14 free throws. Aside from Files and Grace Beardsley (12 points), the rest of the Warriors managed just five field goals.
Just 24 hours earlier, Skaneateles, hosting Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, relied mostly on a single decisive run in the third quarter to get away and earn a 44-34 victory over the Rebels.
Having not played a game in a week, Skaneateles spent the entire first half trying to crank up its sputtering offense. Fortunately, APW had the same problems, and the two sides went to intermission locked in a 17-17 tie.
Then, in the third quarter, the Lakers put together its lone sustained outburst of the night, outscoring the Rebels 15-5 to take the lead for good. Then it held on behind the work of Foehl and Dobrovosky, who earned 16 points apiece, and Bailey Herr, who added eight points. Combined, the rest of the roster had just one field goal as DeShae Jones, with 23 points, accounted for most of APW’s production.
Just as the Skaneateles girls were beating Weedsport, the boys Lakers, returing to action a week removed from back-to-back defeats to OHSL Liberty powers Bishop Grimes and Westhill in a 24-hour span, went to APW and routed the Rebels 82-53.
An active first half saw the Lakers set a blistering pace, especially in a 28-12 second quarter. Once with a 48-29 halftime lead, Skaneateles shored up its defense and added to that comfortable margin.
Pete Knupp had another one of his big nights, earning 31 points, mostly from sinking seven 3-pointers. Jake Reed and Marc Pietropaoli each had 11 points, while Zach Blair and Justin McClanahan got six points apiece. APW had Kaleb Higgins (14 points), Justin Bristol (12 points) and Sage Bartlett (11 points) hit double figures.
This was the Section III Class B playoff-clinching eighth win for Skanetaeles (8-6), who have another set of weekend back-to-back games on tap at Cazenovia and Solvay. Aside from making up the Hannibal game, the Skaneateles girls host Camden and Cazenovia this week.
