Where the Skaneateles girls basketball team ultimately finds itself, once the Section III Class B playoffs roll around, remains far from a certainty.
However, the Lakers already know that, against top-quality competition, it can offer quite a challenge, as it proved during last Tuesday night’s 58-51 home defeat to Bishop Ludden.
Arriving at this game sporting a 10-game win streak, Ludden had every intention of putting Skaneateles away early, and the Gaelic Knights did start well, putting the Lakers in a 16-9 deficit by the end of the first quarter.
Yet Skaneateles battled back, only trailing 27-23 at halftime, and for the rest of the game didn’t allow Ludden to feel comfortable, in part because its offense was so well-balanced.
It was Olivia Navaroli leading with 12 points as she, along with Maeve Canty (10 points), made up for the Gaelic Knights swarming Olivia Dobrovosky, holding her to a modest total of 10 points. Chloe Metz had eight points and Maddy Ramsgard added seven points.
Part of the reason Ludden held on was because it had a bit more production from its stars. Aurora Deshaies, like Dobrovosky a 1,000-point scorer, had 17 points, while Amarah Streiff and Karleigh Leo each had 14 points, Leo hitting four 3-pointers.
Thursday’s game at Hannibal was postponed by weather, but it got made up on Saturday afternoon, and the Lakers found its way back to the win column, defeating the Warriors 59-33.
Already in the lead, Skaneateles used a 22-7 push through the second quarter to take charge, and kept adding to that margin in the second half as Dobrovosky roared back to form with 21 points.
Ramsgard, with nine points, helped out, as did Canty with eight points as Ryley Pas’cal had seven points and Metz contributed six points. Julia Shortslef paced Hannibal with 13 points.
The Lakers (9-7) still have four games left, with a trip to Altmar-Parish-Williamstown Tuesday and a visit from Marcellus on Thursday before games with CBA and Solvay early next week.
