Expecting another trip to the Section III Class B title game after getting there in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018 proved too big of a task for the Chittenango boys basketball team.
Even with a fine late-season run and an impressive Feb. 15 playoff win at Mexico, the no. 9 seed Bears saw its quest end in Turin Tuesday night when it lost, 78-42, to top seed Lowville in the Class B quarterfinals.
Chittenango entered the game having won six in a row to bounce back from a 5-8 start to the season. Lowville, the Frontier League B division champions, was 15-2, and had bashed Hannibal 79-24 in the previous round.
Things were fairly even in the early stages, with the Bears only trailing the Red Raiders 15-12 after one period, but all of that changed in the second quarter.
Led by the brother duo of Aidan and Gavin Macaulay, Lowville got red-hot, sinking most of its shots while clamping down on Chittenango, the end result a 29-6 push that all but put the game away.
All told, the Red Raiders outscored the Bears 43-12 in the second and third quarters. Only Paul Wood, with 15 points, hit double figures for Chittenango as Vincente Cameron added seven points and Noah Schnauffer was held to a single 3-pointer.
Aidan and Gavin Macaulay each had 19 points and Aidan Zehr got 13 points for Lowville, who advanced to face two-time defending sectional champion Westhill in the semifinals.
Finishing at 11-9 overall, the Bears will see Wood, Schnauffer and Cameron depart, with Alex Lum and Brian Schermerhorn leading the returning cast for 2019-20.
