At least when it comes to boys basketball, a small shift in the Madison County order has taken place, with Chittenango moving ahead of Chittenango and owning neighborhood bragging rights.
The Bears sit at 5-0 following last Friday night’s 60-49 victory over the Lakers, a key early-season test for both sides that turned on the way the game started and finished.
For most of the game, Cazenovia did keep pace, and in fact outscored Chittenango in the second and third periods, though it was mostly a two-man show. Thomas Bragg and Dan Kent both had 16 points, but none of their teammates had more than Austin Enders’ total of six points.
Meanwhile, the Bears could afford a bit of mid-game struggles since it ran out of the gate so well, nearly doubling the Lakers’ total while it built a 19-10 lead. Then, with the outcome still in doubt, Chittenango closed strong, too, outscoring Cazenovia 18-13 in the last period.
Zach Falkenburg again dazzled with 20 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals, while Dylan Voutsinas finished with 18 points, four steals and three rebounds. Ample support came from Sam Hill, who just missed a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds, and Hunter Hendrix, who got seven points and eight rebounds. Matt Lanphear contributed six points.
To make sure it was still unbeaten going into the Cazenovia clash, Chittenango had to first handle last Monday’s game against Pulaski, where the Bears mostly relied on its defense to get past the Blue Devils 54-45.
Having moved in front early, Chittenango maintained that small advantage with timely scoring runs and consistent resistance. Even when the Bears went cold in the fourth quarter, it didn’t pay for it, holding Pulaski to seven points as it couldn’t erase the hosts’ 45-38 advantage
Hill pulled down 15 rebounds to go with 12 points and earned a double-double. Falkenburg also had 12 points, adding five rebounds at the head of Chittenango’s well-balanced attack. Voutsinas gained 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hendrix got nine points and seven rebounds as Lanphear earned eight points. Noah Smith led Pulaski with 13 points.
A night later, Cazenovia had its own last tune-up at Homer, and here it suffered its first defeat of the season, seeing its good work done early in the game come apart in the late going as it took a 53-48 loss to the Trojans.
Again leaning on its defense, Cazenovia never let Homer get to double figures in either of the first two periods, and the result was a 27-18 lead. However, the fact that it didn’t pull further away would hurt the Lakers once the Trojans began to make some baskets on a regular basis in the third quarter.
Then Cazenovia saw its 38-34 lead vanish when Homer outscored them 19-10 in the final period, led by Jacob Rivers, who finished with 17 points as Bryant Quinlan and Stephen Walker earned nine points apiece.
Though Bragg, with 17 points, matched Rivers, 10 of those points came from free throws, and the support was a bit less productive, though Dan Kent and Hunter Kowaleski each had seven points and Kevin Stalder added six points.
The loss to Chittenango followed, leaving the Lakers at 2-2 going into a week’s rest prior to Friday’s game at Institute of Technology Central.