No, the stakes were not the same, and the setting was a basketball court instead of a football field. But in a small and very satisfying way, Ryan Romganoli got his revenge on Solvay.
It was Romagnoli’s 3-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation that propelled the Cazenovia boys basketball team to a 49-47 victory over Solvay in last Tuesday night’s season opener at Buckley Gym.
Less than two months earlier, Romagnoli had seen the football Lakers fall to the Bearcats 42-28 in the opening round of the Section III Class B playoffs, a game where Cazenovia led several times, yet could not hang on.
The fact that Solvay went on to win the sectional title only made that defeat more difficult to take, so the boys basketball Lakers were quite eager to welcome the Bearcats as the basketball season got underway.
Strong on defense at the outset, Cazenovia held Solvay to five points in the first quarter. And it maintained that lead as the pace picked up, largely on the strength of freshman Alex Moesch’s 3-point shooting.
Moesch would finish with 24 points, hitting six times beyond the arc, yet it nearly wasn’t enough as Solvay stormed back in the fourth quarter and took a 47-46 lead in the closing minute.
So it was only fitting that Romagnoli, from the corner, hit the winning 3-pointer as he had nine points and fellow football star Ty Freyer finished with eight points. The Bearcats got 13 points from Brock Bagozzi, 12 points from Justin Scott and 10 points from Elijah Wright.
Cazenovia had two games on the weekend against Northeastern Clinton and Plattsburgh, and won them both to complete a perfect 3-0 opening week.
The Lakers beat Northeast Clinton 56-48 in a tough, physical battle, and then roared past Plattsburgh 81-49 as its offense took off. Moesch had 24 points, with Romagnoli earning 17 points, Freyer getting 15 points, and Patrick Linck adding 10 points.
Cazenovia is back at Buckley Gym this week for two more games against Homer and Holland Patent.
In its season opener, Chittenango hosted Altmar-Parish-Williamstown and proceeded to demolish the Rebels 80-20, the only game it would win in its opening week of action.
Up 37-4 by halftime, the Bears got all 10 players that saw action on the scoreboard, with sophomore Bryce Bishop leading the way as he scored 19 points, nearly matching APW’s entire output.
Close behind him, Tyrus Kelly had 17 points, while Jacob Dawkins and Kyle Manwarig had 10 points apiece. Alex Lum and Evan Smith each had six points.
It would get a lot tougher for Chittenango Thursday as it hosted Skaneateles, who like its fellow Lakers from Cazenovia won a tense season opener, edging Westhill 48-47.
The Bears lost, 74-62, even though it stayed right with Skaneateles for most of the game. The only lapse came in a second quarter where the visiting Lakers outscored them 28-10.
Kelly, with 15 points, paced Chittenango. Lum had 10 points, with Brian Schermerhorn getting nine points. Dawkins had seven points as Manwarig and Luke Dahlin had six points apiece.
To lead Skaneateles, Nate Fouts poured in 23 points, and three other Lakers hit double figures as Nick Wamp and Max Wamp each had 11 points and Jack Whirtley got 10 points.
Chittenango then struggled on offense in Saturday’s 58-32 defeat to East Syracuse Minoa, with no one getting more than the six points from Lum and Manwarig as the Bears would go to Holland Patent and Fayetteville-Manlius this week.
