During its most pivotal four-day stretch of the season, the Cazenovia girls basketball team could not only lock up a Section III Class B playoff berth, it could also show that getting rid of them in the post-season won’t prove easy.
The Lakers began this gauntlet last Monday night, hosting Cortland at Buckley Gym, and, winning its third in a row, climbed to the .500 mark (7-7) on the basis of a sensational defensive effort that helped it beat the Purple Tigers 47-33.
Neither side started hot, but the key was that Cazenovia did produce enough baskets in the second and third periods as its defense shut Cortland down, holding the Purple Tigers to six points in both periods and extending its margin to 30-19 in the process.
Largely, this was based on Danielle Tedesco dominating in the paint, recording 22 points, nearly half her team’s output. Lucy Connor had 12 points, while Kaylee Cunningham finished with six points. Other than Shea Swarthout and Jackie Phillips, who had 11 points apiece, the rest of the Cortland roster managed just one field goal.
Two nights later, the Lakers hosted Hannibal, who brought a 10-4 record to Buckley Gym, but found itself shut down from start to finish by the Cazenovia defense, who never let up one bit in a 37-25 victory over the Warriors that, indeed, locked up that bid in the sectional tournament.
Modest as both teams were in terms of first-half production, Cazenovia proved more stingy, holding Hannibal to three points in the opening period. Thus, an 18-12 halftime advantage didn’t seem so bad, and every time the Warriors tried to change things up, the Lakers had answers for them, too.
No Hannibal player scored more than the seven points put up by Katie Pitcher. Meanwhile, the Lakers got enough from Connor and Jamie Joseph, who earned 10 points apiece, and Tedesco, who had nine points.
So with all of the pressure of reaching the sectional playoffs gone, Cazenovia took its shot at Skaneateles, hoping that playing a third game in four nights would not wear them out. And it did put up a solid effort, but still watched the host Lakers get away and prevail 52-39 to end the win streak.
Again, Cazenovia relied on its defense to start out well, and it led, 9-8, after one period. But in the face of full-court pressure, the visiting Lakers fell behind in the game’s middle stages, and its attempts to catch up were thwarted when Skaneateles made nine of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Tedesco still finished with 13 points, while Saige Ackermann rose up and earned 12 points. Jenna Britton added nine points, but Connor (three points) and Cunningham (two points) were held in check. For Skaneateles, Shannon Foehl led the attack with 20 points, while Olivia Dobrovosky earned eight of her 15 points at the foul line.
Not until Friday did Cazenovia’s boys basketball team resume its post-season quest, hosting Skaneateles at Buckley Gym. Whatever had gone right prior to this game dissipated as the visiting Lakers prevailed by a 63-37 margin.
Back on Dec. 10, Skaneateles had won at home, 70-60, and in the second meeting the game was decided in the middle stages. Cazenovia only trailed by two, 13-11, through one period, but over the course of the next two quarters Skaneateles outscored them 39-16, controlling matters on both ends.
Other than Daniel Kent, who had 11 points, and Shawn Cunningham, who got seven points, no Cazenovia player had more than two field goals. And none of them could contain Pete Knupp, who led Skaneateles with 22 points, hitting on six 3-pointers to account for most of that production as Marc Pietropaoli and Jake Reed each had 12 points.
That defeat ended Cazenovia’s brief two-game win streak as it still has to visit Institute of Technology Central and Marcellus this week before a Feb. 9 regular-season finale against VVS, perhaps needing to win all of those games to reach the sectional tournament.
