Just when the Cazenovia boys basketball team wanted to maintain its momentum built late in January through wins over the likes of Chittenango and Westhill, the weather again got in the way.
Snow postponed two Lakers games, one against Homer last Monday, and another on Wednesday against Hannibal, which forced Cazenovia into crowding in four games in five days.
That gauntlet began Friday with a regularly scheduled game against Marcellus. It was Senior Night at Buckley Gym, and the Lakers made it count, earning a 54-39 victory over the Mustangs that helped lock up the OHSL Liberty National division regular-season championship.
Cazenovia’s eighth win in a row involved holding Marcellus to six points in the first quarter to gain control. Still, it wasn’t until an 18-7 push through the third quarter that the Lakers could really get away.
Thomas Bragg’s team-high 14 points included three 3-pointers. Kevin Stalder had 11 points, with Drew Johnson getting 10 points as Dan Kent (eight points) and Ryan Romagnoli (six points) each hit on a pair of 3-pointers.
The Hannibal game was made up on Saturday afternoon, and the Lakers made it nine wins in a row, though the 62-41 margin disguised some early struggles as the Warriors, just 4-15 going into the game, played an inspired first half and led 32-31 at the break.
Only in the third quarter did Cazenovia take over on both ends, as it went on a 19-3 run in that frame and never got answered. A trio carried the attack as Bragg, Stalder and Johnson each had 17 points and accounted for all but five of the Lakers’ field goals.
And that was the just the first portion of this busy stretch, for Cazenovia would again try to make up the Homer game on Monday before finishing the regular season at Skaneateles a night later.
Meanwhile, the weather was fine last Tuesday night and Chittenango took full advantage, hosting Altmar-Parish-Williamstown and nearly getting to the century mark in a 94-44 romp over the Rebels.
As if building a 49-26 halftime lead wasn’t enough, the Bears outscored APW 28-3 in the third quarter as Zach Falkenburg earned 27 points and Dylan Voutsinas earned 16 points before sitting the fourth quarter.
Jackson Lawrence gained nine points, with Paul Wood and Jacob Burgan each scoring eight points. Matt Lanphear finished with seven points as Alex Lum and Vicente Cameron saw extended minutes and earned six points apiece.
Two nights later, the Bears visited Skaneateles, where this time things were settled in a lopsided first half that led to Chittenango rolling past those other Lakers 69-38.
The combination of a vastly improved defense and an offense that continued to click led to a 19-7 first-quarter advantage and a 46-18 lead by halftime.
Best of all, it didn’t lean on Falkenburg, who only had 12 points. Voutsinas earned all of his 15 points from five 3-pointers as Lanphear got 14 points. Wood finished with nine points as Sam Hill and Noah Schnauffer had six points apiece.
Like Cazenovia, Chittenango would also play twice early this week, against Institute of Technology Central and Mexico, before finding out where it would go for the Section III Class B playoffs.
