A season ago, the Skaneateles girls basketball team watched from afar as Syracuse Academy of Science made a dramatic, exciting run to the state Class C championship game.
This led Section III to move SAS up to Class B for 2018-19, where the Atoms had struggled a bit more, yet still went 8-3 in the first half o the regular season and possessed plenty of quality, something the Lakers would find out about up close.
Skaneateles visited SAS last Tuesday night, and had plenty of potent stretches, only to pay the price for slow starts to each half in a 75-58 defeat to the Atoms.
All through the first quarter, the Lakers’ defense could not keep SAS from piling up baskets, though it did join the duel late in the half, keeping itself within range and only trailing 37-33 at the break.
The pace proved too much, though, as Skaneateles got outscored 16-7 in a pivotal third quarter, too much to overcome despite Olivia Dobrovosky getting 24 points, 10 of them from free throws.
Maddy Ramsgard had 10 points, with Ryley Pas’cal getting nine points. Maeve Canty got eight points and Kate Aberi contributed six points.
Mostly, SAS benefited from having production well beyond one star. Aniyah Powell matched Dobrovosky’s total of 24 points, with Alexius Pierce hitting four 3-pointers on her way to 18 points overall as Xyel Bradford finished with 14 points.
Two nights later, Skaneateles hosted Cazenovia, still looking for a playoff-clinching eighth win, but instead seeing its offense shut off for long stretches of the game, too much to claim victory as it fell 48-28 to that other group of Lakers.
By far, the most frustrating part of the night was the second quarter. Trailing 16-9 after a hot Cazenovia start, Skaneateles clamped down on defense and limited the visitors to just five points.
The only problem was that Skaneateles only got two points of its own in that second period, and any hope of rallying late was dashed when it managed just five points in the fourth quarter.
As a whole, Skaneateles converted just nine field goals all night, eight of them by Dobrovosky and Pas’cal as Dobrovosky got 12 points and Pas’cal nine points. Cazenovia forward Lindsey Lawson led her side with 21 points.
Despite these setbacks, Skaneateles is favored in both of its games next week, hosting Solvay Tuesday before a Friday-night trip to Jordan-Elbridge.
