In the first couple of weeks of its 2018-19 season, the Cazenovia boys basketball team has endured plenty of ups and downs.
From an opening defeat at Solvay, the Lakers went on to the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament at North Warren High School, where it prevailed in both of the games there.
Cazenovia routed Peru 71-28 on Nov. 30, and a day later had a tougher game against Saranac Lake, but won again, 75-63, giving itself some momentum going into last Tuesday’s home opener against Bishop Ludden.
But even in the friendly surroundings of Buckley Gym, the Lakers could not prevent the Gaelic Knights from roaring out to a quick start and riding it past Cazenovia 75-63.
After Ludden’s long-time head coach, Pat Donnelly, retired at the end of last season, Gallagher Driscoll took over as head coach. The Gaelic Knights had dropped a narrow 71-69 decision to Cicero-North Syracuse in its Dec. 1 opener.
Here, hot shooting in the first half put Ludden in charge. Despite all of its efforts, Cazenovia was down 42-27 by halftime, and saw every one of its runs answered during the last two periods as Champ Reid paced the Gaelic Knights with a career-high 29 points.
Drew Johnson did his best to help the Lakers keep up, getting 23 points, but no other Cazenovia player hit double figures, though Keegan Bailey (nine points), Ryan Romagnoli (eight points) and Ian Fostvelt (seven points) came close and Trey Schug had six points.
Meanwhile, to help Reid on Ludden’s side, Nic Button poured in 16 points, with Mykell Kaigler getting 15 points and Tyler Webster contributing 10 points.
Cazenovia was next in action on Saturday, facing PSLA-Fowler in the Syracuse Showcase Basketball Invitational, a two-day event featuring all of the Syracuse city programs plus some other teams.
The Falcons defeated the Lakers 82-74, a game where Cazenovia fell behind 50-25 by halftime but nearly made it all the way back as Johnson led a second-half surge, finishing with 27 points.
Romagnoli and Brian Pezzi helped out with 12 points apiece, while Kevin Ammann had six points. Still, PSLA-Fowler held on behind the likes of Tyler Patterson, whose 28 points included four 3-pointers.
Chittenango had last Tuesday’s game against Altmar-Parish-Williamstown rescheduled to Jan. 7, so it was idle until Friday, when it went to Phoenix and got its first win of the season, topping the Firebirds 53-47.
Tied 22-22 at halftime, the Bears inched in front in the third quarter and stayed there thanks to solid defense and a shooting barrage from Noah Schnauffer, whose five 3-pointers accounted for most of his 23 points.
Paul Wood got 12 points, with Alex Lum adding eight points and Brian Schermerhorn picking up six points. Phoenix’s Jack Allen, who surpassed 1,000 career points earlier in the week in a loss to CBA, led his side with 16 points.
In back-to-back games this week, Chittenango faces Vernon-Verona-Sherrill and Hannibal before traveling to Bishop Ludden on Friday. Cazenovia has trips south to Homer on Tuesday and north to South Jefferson on Friday.
