When it left Westhill following a last-second defeat on Dec. 19, the Chittenango boys basketball team carried with it an odd mix of anger and optimism.
True, the Bears were mad that it had missed a last-second upset of the reigning state Class B champions. But it had also played Westhill far closer than it did in last March’s Section III final, and that alone offered encouragement for the rest of the season.
So when Chittenango hosted its annual holiday tournament, it was ready to assert itself again, doing so with torrid shooting in the Dec. 27 opening round against Solvay as it beat up the Bearcats 80-53.
Right from the start, the Bears found itself drilling outside shots, gaining a 39-28 lead by halftime and then putting Solvay away by outscoring them 27-8 in the third quarter.
All told, Chittenango made 14 3-pointers, six from Dylan Voutsinas on his way to 23 points and four from Zach Falkenburg as he got 24 points. Each of Paul Wood’s 12 points came from four successful 3-pointers as all 11 players that saw action got at least one field goal.
In the Dec. 28 final, the Bears faced Whitesboro, who had handled Skaneateles 65-43 the day before. The confidence the Warriors gained in that game carried over to the title game as it would hand Chittenango a 47-41 defeat.
Though the Bears contained Whitesboro throughout the first half, its own cold shooting led to a 20-20 tie. Then Chittenango managed just seven points in the third quarter, giving the Warriors room to move in front.
Other than Falkenburg, who had 23 points, the Bears just managed seven total field goals – three by Voutsinas, two each by Wood and Sam Hill. Whitesboro had Tommy Morreale produce 18 points and Zach Britt finish with 14 points, .
Without much time to recover, the Bears had to face Ithaca on Dec. 30, and that game didn’t prove too easy, either, but Chittenango made a stirring fourth-quarter comeback to stun the Little Red 56-53.
From an early 11-8 lead, little went right for the Bears as, over the course of the next two periods, it continued to struggle from the field and Ithaca steadily worked its way in front.
So it was 44-36 in the Little Red’s favor going to the fourth quarter, but just in time, Chittenango found its spark, catching up and making all the key shots during a closing 20-9 spurt.
Of Falkenburg’s 23 points, more than half of them came from four 3-pointers. Matt Lanpear picked up 10 points as Wood got nine points, Hill eight points and Lucas Spiridilozzi six points.
Cazenovia had rested during the holiday break, resuming its season last Wednesday against Bishop Grimes, where it was within grasp of a season-altering victory before a rough fourth quarter led to a 59-44 defeat.
The Lakers led, 16-12, through one period, and even though Grimes moved out in front by halftime, nothing was settled until the final period, when the Cobras held Cazenovia to four points as it pulled clear.
Friday’s game with Solvay was snowed out and would get made up on Monday, right before the Lakers played Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Tuesday and before a Friday trip to Institute of Technology Central.
