All the things taught by Camille Murphy in her first year coaching the Skaneateles girls basketball team started to click just in time for the Lakers to make a serious push to get into the Section III Class B playoffs.
Entering last week’s action, Skaneateles was 5-12, but 4-6 in the OHSL Liberty division. Thus, it had to win two of its remaining three games in league play to stay above the .400 mark and meet the post-season qualifying standards.
By far, the easiest of the three games for the Lakers was last Tuesday’s home game against Pulaski, and Skaneateles didn’t waste that opportunity, taking over in the middle stages to beat the Blue Devils 53-31.
This game was decided in the middle stages, where Skaneateles outscored Pulaski 26-13. Olivia Dobrovosky made sure it kept going, leading both sides with 18 points, while Riley Pas’cal had a season-best 16 points. Hannah Atkinson contributed eight points as Samantha Paternoster (13 points, five rebounds, three steals) and Lauren Denny (11 points, five steals, four rebounds) led the Blue Devils’ efforts.
What remained, though, were tough games for Skaneateles against Westhill and Phoenix. The Warriors arrived at the Lakers’ home gym last Saturday (following a one-day weather postponement) still sore about a loss to Cazenovia earlier in the week.
That was reflected in the game, where Westhill prevailed, 71-40, in a contest where Skaneateles fell out of the picture bythe end of the third quarter. Already trailing 33-19 at halftime, the Lakers saw the Warriors outscore them 24-10 in that third period.
Dobrovosky still had 18 points, nearly half her team’s output, while Chloe Metz had 10 points and Atkinson got seven points. Westhill’s three starters back from last year’s state finals appearance each had an impact as Morgan Elmer earned 17 points (including three 3-pointers, Katelyn Karleski had 15 points and Mackenzie Martin finished with 14 points.
So the Lakers’ playoff hopes hinge on the Phoenix game, a difficult test, but with the Firebirds having lost the previous week to Jordan-Elbridge and Cazenovia, one that is within the team’s range.
