Just when it mattered, the Skaneateles boys golf team overtook the foes it had chased throughout the regular season.
The Lakers went to the Pompey Club on a sun-drenched Monday morning and proceeded to win the large school division of the Section III West Qualifier.
Posting a team total of 414, Skaneateles beat out Cazenovia, who was second with 423. Marcellus, who beat Skanetaeles head-to-head throughout the regular season, could only manage third place with 427 as Westhill finished with 437.
Jacob Patalino led the Lakers by shooting an 18-hole score of 79, tying for fourth place with Marcellus’ Carter Austin as, again, everyone chased Cazenovia’s Cody Thorp, whose 73 claimed the individual title by three strokes over Manlius-Pebble Hill’s Johnny Gruninger.
Sam Clymer finished with an 83, while Raymond Falso and Luke Palmer both finished with 84. Clymer tied for 12th, with Falso and Palmer sharing 15th place. Each of them would join Patalino in advancing to the sectional state qualifier later in the week at Colgate University’s Seven Oaks course in Hamilton.
Back on May 18, the Lakers got a big victory over a long-time foe, prevailing 209-210, over Westhill at Camillus Country Club.
Clymer shot a 40, which was four shots behind Westhill’s Sean Dadey. Then Carter Stiegel matched David Bleskoski’s 40, and the Lakers inched in front when Patalino and Palmer both finished with 42.
Then, in a three-team match Friday at Pine Grove, Skaneateles shot 216 to rout host Solvay (254), but finish behind rival Marcellus, who won with 208.
Patalino stepped up and, with a 38, matched the Mustangs’ Tom Fiacchi for low individual honors. Stiegel and Steve Ciaccio both finished with 42, ahead of the Bearcats’ Jon Smolen (46), but behind the Marcellus duo of Tim Sheridan (39) and Jay Colella (40).
Meanwhile, the Skaneateles girls golf team would have its Section III championship tournament Tuesday at Kanon Valley, fresh off a tie for second place in the OHSL tournament May 18 at Woodcrest, where the Lakers and Marcellus finished just two shots behind CBA.
Here, the Lakers would get a team score of 433, taking third place behind Vernon-Verona-Sherrill, who won with 415, and Camden, who was second with 427.
Karah Blair led Skaneateles with a round of 106 that included a front nine of 54 and a back nine of 52. Blair finished two shots ahead of Jenna Fields, who had a 108, with Breanna Sisson (109) and Jill Barker (110) close behind as Addison Gremli added a 109.
Auburn’s Lindsay May, a two-time state champion, won the individual title with a 77, seven shots ahead of Fayetteville-Manlius’ Madison Kingsley.
May and Kingsley will go to this weekend’s state tournament at Bethpage State Park on Long Island, joined by Kingsley’s teammate, Maggie Bonomo, along with Lena Jones (Jamesville-DeWitt), Natalya Avotins (Liverpool), Bella Facciolo (Utica Proctor), Olivia Evans (VVS), Nessa McKie (Cicero-North Syracuse) and Shannon Bunce (Westhill).
