Before it could go to Camillus Hills Golf Club for Tuesday’s Section III fall small-school tournament, the Skaneateles boys golf team had the Onondaga High School League Liberty National division regular-season title within its grasp.
All the Lakers had to do to get a piece of it was defeat Christian Brothers Academy Thursday – a tall task, since the Brothers were a perfect 7-0 in league matches, 13-1 overall and had already beaten Skaneateles 208-236 on Aug. 28 at Drumlins.
This match was at Skaneateles Country Club, where Ty Jones proved the best individual golfer again, putting up a nine-hole score of 39, yet that couldn’t keep the Lakers from falling again to the Brothers 227-244.
Ben Spinelli had a 43, tying CBA’s Joe Nicholson for second place, but CBA earned the next four lowest totals, including 44s from Dan Angelo and Mike Santoro, with Jack Canty getting a 48 as Shawn Luce had a 55 and Cole Kennedy shot 59.
Facing Homer last Monday at Skaneateles Country Club, the Lakers battled to a 237-245 victory over the Trojans, again with ones at the forefront as he shot a 41.
Spinelli finished second with a 42, one stroke behind Jones. Mitch Riter paced Homer with a 45, but no other Trojan improved on David Alger’s 47 as Canty also finished on that number for the Lakers.
Now Skaneateles would host Cazenovia on Tuesday, and it had to win to still have a shot at the league title. Wet conditions aside, Skaneateles would prevail in this Lakers clash 230-237, nearly identical to the 233-239 win it earned over Cazenovia a month earlier.
Again, the strength at the top would help Skaneateles, Jones shooting a 39 and Spinelli a 41 to claim the top two spots ahead of Cazenovia’s Alex Moesch, who led his side with a 43.
Canty produced a 46, with Shawn Luce contributing a 48. Jared Simmons’ 56 helped Skaneateles clinch it as, for Cazenovia, Cody Dickinson (45), Max Beam (46), Will Fitzgerald (50) and Ben Orbach (53) followed Moesch.
The defeat to CBA left the Lakers with a final overall regular-season mark of 9-5.