If given the opportunity, the Skaneateles boys basketball team could enjoy plenty of growth this winter – but the schedule may not allow it.
An already tough slate in the OHSL Liberty division was made tougher for the Lakers when it managed to get a rare home game last Tuesday night against long-time powerhouse Jamesville-DeWitt, who displayed its championship intentions again while handling Skaneateles 90-44.
J-D, where Andy Rautins, Brandon Triche and Dajuan Coleman all flourished before going to Syracuse University, has maintained its elite status despite the controversial departure of long-time head coach Bob McKenney (now at Bishop Grimes) in March 2015.
Under McKenney’s successor, Jeff Ike, the Red Rams reached the sectional semifinals a season ago and, led by Buddy Boeheim (son of SU coach Jim Boeheim), roared out to a 3-0 start this season and was no. 18 in the first state Class A rankings of the winter.
None of this was a fluke, as J-D demonstrated at Skaneateles by roaring out to a 50-26 halftime lead on the Lakers. Then it held the hosts to nine points in each of the last two periods to make sure no comeback took place.
On the Lakers’ side, Jake Reed had 19 points as he and Seth Lincoln (10 points) accounted for all but six of the Skaneateles field goals. Boeheim finished with 27 points and seven rebounds, getting lots of help from Darvin Lovette, who added 20 points.
Yet another tough game for Skaneateles was supposed to await Thursday night at Central Square against a Redhawks side off to a 3-1 start, but it got snowed out.
Things cleared up long enough, though, for the Lakers to get back on the court Friday night against OHSL Liberty division newcomer Pulaski, and while it was far from a smooth effort, Skaneateles was glad to take the 69-63 victory over the Blue Devils.
As it turned out, the first quarter was decisive. The Lakers led, 18-10, after that opening period, a cushion that would get relied on whenever Pulaski made a move from the second quarter onward, one charge met by another from the home side.
Ultimately, it required Reed to improve his total to 23 points, while Jeremy Castle and Justin McClanahan each connected on four 3-pointers and each earned 16 points. No other Lakers player had more than four points as Skaneateles overcame 24 points from Pulaski’s Noah Smith and 16 points from Jacob Gray.
In its only game this week, the 2-4 Lakers hosted Institute of Technology Central Tuesday night, with the Eagles fresh off beating those other Lakers from Cazenovia 58-56 in double overtime last Friday at Buckley Gym.
