On the Thursday before Christmas, each of the Cazenovia basketball teams picked up lopsided victories, while Chittenango saw its boys side maintain its unbeaten mark following a long break.
When the Bears took the court for its game against Whitesboro, it had not played for nearly two weeks due to a combination of scheduling and weather postponements. None of this affected Chittenango, though, for it completely dominated the first half on the way to beating the Warriors 63-40.
Ignoring Whitesboro’s solid 3-2 record and home-court advantage, the Bears proved it wasn’t rusty by jumping out to a 20-5 lead by the end of the first quarter. The rout continued until, at halftime, the score stood at 41-9.
Before going to the bench in the fourth quarter, Zach Falkenburg torched the Warriors for 24 points, seven assists and six blocks. Dylan Voutsinas had 11 points and four assists, while Hunter Hendrix notched 10 rebounds to go with six points. Sam Hill had 11 points and four rebounds.
Cazenovia, who had knocked off a Class A side (Oswego) 62-53 earlier in the week, visited Sherburne-Earlville and turned up its defense to do most of the important work in a 55-37 victory over the Marauders.
To take control, the Lakers held S-E to three points in the first quarter. That allowed Cazenovia plenty of time to get its own offense going, and holding a 24-15 halftime lead, it used a 15-8 push through the third period to prevent a Marauders rally.
With S-E determined to take away Cazenovia’s outside shooting, forward Kevin Stalder got plenty of open looks and converted them into a season-best 16 points. Thomas Bragg still manage to connect twice beyond the arc, as did Dan Kent, as Bragg finished with 14 points and Kent matched Hunter Kowaleski, each of them getting 10 points.
Cazenovia’s girls basketball team hosted Altmar-Parish-Williamstown at Buckley Gym and flattened the Rebels 63-26. Most of that margin stemmed from a first half where the Lakers dominated on the boards and also hit plenty of shots while building a 36-7 edge.
Danielle Tedesco led the Lakers’ attack by earning 18 points. Lucy Connor, with 11 points, and Julia Barrett, with 10 points, also reached double figures. Lindsey Lawson finished with seven points as Chloe Willard got six points, Madison West five points and Saige Ackermann four points.
Then, a day after Christmas, Cazenovia’s boys basketball team went to Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall for the Hoops for the Hospital Holiday Classic, where it ran right into red-hot Auburn in and got overwhelmed in a 91-41 defeat to the Maroons.
Auburn wasted little time taking control, hitting five 3-pointers in the first quarter alone and taking a 30-11 lead. Then the Maroons netted the first 10 points of the second quarter, eventually putting the Lakers in a 45-19 halftime deficit.
Things got little better for Cazenovia from there, with only Bragg (12 points) reaching double figures as Austin Enders gained seven points. Auburn’s Scott Minnoe burned the Lakers for 33 points, most of it from seven 3-pointers, as he added seven rebounds, getting help from Evan Donovan (18 points) and Kaleb Cook (14 points) along the way.
