Still not safe in regards of having a Section III Class B playoff berth, the Skaneateles boys basketball team entered February in something close to a post-season mode, needing to win games now in order to keep going a bit longer.
The Lakers had a chance to take an enormous step toward the sectional tournament in last Wednesday’s game at Central Square. After all, Skaneateles was well-rested, while the Redhawks had claimed a big win over CBA just 24 hours earlier.
Despite all of these advantages, though, the Lakers lost, 57-47, in a contest where it had all kinds of chances to flourish. During the first half, Skaneateles played solid defense and matched baskets, only trailing by two, 29-27, at the break.
The third quarter offered another opportunity, but again Skaneateles let it slip away, and the Redhawks got away in the fourth quarter behind the work of Dante Rogers, who had 16 points and 15 rebounds, along with Slade Springer, who had eight points and 10 rebounds.
For its part, the Lakers did have a well-balanced attack. But no one had more than Jeremy Castle’s total of 12 points as top scorer Jake Reed was held to eight points, the same total as Ben Delasin. Matt Neumann had 10 points and Seth Lincoln got five points.
Having fallen to 6-12 overall, the Lakers still were 4-6 in league play, and as long as it beat either Phoenix on Friday or Hannibal in Tuesday’s regular-season finale, it would still get to the playoffs.
Not wanting to wait until the last minute, Skaneateles ended the suspense Friday night, punching its playoff ticket by defeating Phoenix 61-46 in a game far closer than where the final score ended up.
Throughout a low-scoring first half, neither side could gain much of an advantage. Still, the Lakers were up 22-20 on the Firebirds at the break, and then gradually picked up its pace, though it took a series of free throws by Reed in the waning minutes to push the margin to double digts.
All told, Reed gained 23 points, and didn’t work alone, either. Neumann had his second straight 10-point outing as Justin McClanahan gained eight points. Castle had seven points and Delasin six points as Phoenix lost despite 17 points from Alex Sisera, 13 points from Jack Allen and 10 points from Jacob Hart.
