For the last couple of years, the Cazenovia boys basketball team enjoyed a fair amount of regular-season success, yet still had to watch its neighbors from Chittenango advance to back-to-back Section III Class B title games.
This winter, though, the Lakers enjoy the upper hand in the rivalry – or at least it did so in the wake of traveling to Chittenango Thursday night and, rallying from a double-digit deficit, recorded a 60-57 victory over the Bears.
What made it more satisfying, from Cazenovia’s standpoint, was the fact that Chittenango started out intent on running away from them, nearly doubling the Lakers’ output while establishing a 19-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and then extending the margin to 15 at one point in the second period.
Then Cazenovia’s defense switched from a zone to man-to-man look and, combined with steady production, it cut the deficit to 30-27 by halftime.
Then they traded baskets and lead changes until late the fourth quarter, when the Lakers moved out in front for good, 55-53, on Ryan Romagnoli’s 3-pointer, and held on thanks to making five free throws in the closing stretch.
Balance and depth made the difference, for though Paul Wood poured in 30 points for the Bears and Noah Schnauffer added 14 points (the pair combined to hit eight 3-pointers), only three other players got field goals, Alex Lum four of them on his way to eight points.
Eight of Drew Johnson’s 12 points came from free throws as reserve Mike Parrella earned all of his 12 points from four 3-pointers.
Romagnoli and Kevin Ammann each converted three times beyond the arc as Ammann had 10 points and Romagnoli nine points. Also, Keegan Bailey had seven points and Ty Freyer got six points from a pair of 3-pointers.
Before all this, both the Lakers and Bears lost home games early in the week.
Two-time defending Section III Class B champion Westhill visited Cazenovia Monday night night and kept the Lakers off the board for long stretches of the first half, deciding matters early and prevailing 67-42.
All that the Lakers got in the first half was just nine points, a handful of field goals in the face of Westhill’s man-to-man pressure. And that never really eased until the Warriors built a 53-23 advantage by the end of the third quarter.
Johnson did finish with 13 points, while Romagnoli hit three 3-pointers to account for all of his nine points and Bailey got six points, On Westhill’s side, no one could stop senior forward Zach Brown, who finished the night with 24 points.
Chittenango hosted Skaneateles last Tuesday night, the same team it lost to on Nov. 30. Still undefeated, and no. 17 in the state Class B rankings, these other Lakers showed up and prevailed again, this time by a 57-44 margin.
What was a close contest broke open when Skaneateles outscored Chittenango 22-12 in the second quarter, and all night long the Bears could not stop Lakers forward Nate Fouts, whose 28 points included four 3-pointers.
Still, Chittenango remained within sight most of the way as Schnauffer connected six times beyond the arc to account for most of his 20 points and Wood added 13 points. Lum finished with six points.
