By the time they gather at Buckley Gym Tuesday night, the Cazenovia and Chittenango boys basketball teams have endured plenty of ups and downs to cover an entire season.
For the Lakers, though, it was simply a matter of a crowded schedule, four games with a long road trip in the middle that involved playing (and losing to) the reigning state Class D champions from Moriah on Dec. 1.
Still, that Moriah game was a good one, Cazenovia falling 73-67 despite four players reaching double figures as Dan Kent, with 18 points, was just ahead of Thomas Bragg (14 points), Matt Regan (12 points) and Kevin Stalder (11 points). Joey Gates added eight points.,
Cazenovia recovered to beat Plattsburgh 56-51 a day later, largely because Bragg broke out for 22 points, including three 3-pointers. Drew Johnson also stepped up, earning 14 points as Regan contributed 11 points.
But when the Lakers returned to Central New York, it went through another round of frustration in last Tuesday night’s 47-44 loss to Syracuse Academy of Science.
Trailing 16-8 through one quarter, the Lakers dominated the game’s middle stages, catching up by halftime and then leading the Atoms 39-32 heading into the fourth quarter as Bragg got 14 points, with Stalder and Cole Basic each adding 10 points.
At the worst possible time, though, Cazenovia fell into a drought, and SAS took full advantage. Led by Noreon Williams (17 points), Zachaeus Smith and Owen Blue (11 points each), the Atoms caught up and Cazenovia only managed two points in those final eight minutes.
To try and recover from this, Cazenovia would go to Henninger High School on Saturday to face PSLA-Fowler, a part of the inaugural Syracuse City School District Basketball Invitational.
But the Lakers lost, 55-45, to the Falcons, getting within six early in the third quarter, only to see PSLA storm to a 43-27, something Cazenovia could not overcome despite a late surge.
Bragg poured in 18 points, while Matt Regan gained 10 points. Joey Gates and Drew Johnson had six points apiece. Yaret Osorio and Davonta Stackhouse led a balanced Falcons attack with 12 points apiece as Tyler Patterson added 10 points.
Chittenango, meanwhile, was still mad about surrendering a last-minute lead to Seton Catholic in the Dec. 2 final of the Stop DWI Tournament in Binghamton.
When it returned to action last Friday night, the Bears wanted to take out that anger on Jordan-Elbridge, and it required a big second quarter to make up for struggles elsewhere as Chittenango beat the Eagles 67-58.
Through one period, the Bears trailed 16-11, but erased that with a 19-5 blitz through the rest of the half. Then it spent the entire second half matching whatever J-E threw at them.
Again, Zach Falkenburg proved tough to stop, accumulating 32 points, nearly half Chittenango’s output. Dylan Voutsinas hit a trio of 3-pointers on his way to 15 points overall as Paul Wood got eight points. J-E had 15 points from Jeremiah Sparks, 12 points from Colin Barrigar and 11 points from Aidan Carpenter.
Once it’s done with Cazenovia, the Bears have back-to-back games this weekend against Phoenix and Lowville as Cazenovia will visit Mexico Friday night.
