Right after the Cazenovia boys basketball team rolled past its neighbors from Chittenango on Dec. 20, the two sides turned to other end-of-year tests.
The Lakers saw a fourth-quarter lead disappear in a Dec. 23 defeat to Westhill at Buckley Gym, and that provided lots of motivation for the two games that followed.
Nearly a week later, at SRC Arena, it was Cazenovia against Hannibal, and against this other set of Warriors the Lakers, without Ryan Romagnoli in the lineup, went cold on offense, but was saved by its defense in a 44-38 victory.
With a modest 23-19 halftime lead, Cazenovia got itself into trouble after the break, Hannibal hitting some key baskets and then seizing a 34-31 advantage with one period left.
Now, though, it was the Lakers’ turn to get tough, blanking the Warriors for long stretchees of that fourth quarter while regaining the lead for good.
Keegan Bailey, back from an injury that sidelined him for much of December, had 11 points, with Ty Freyer also getting 11 points. Alex Moesch had eight points as A.J. Rothfeld and Patrick Linck got seven points apiece.
At 8-2 reaching the midway point of the regular season, the state Class B no. 18-ranked Lakers welcomed South Jefferson to Buckley Gym last Friday and won again, fighting hard to edge the Spartans 50-48.
Romagnoli was back, and he was productive, notching 17 points, most of them in a first half where Cazenovia clawed its way to a 33-31 lead.
It was Romagnoli and Mike Parella carrying the attack as Parella set a career mark with 16 points, getting help from Moesch, who had eight points.
Mostly, though, it was the Lakers’ defense that saved them here, limiting South Jefferson to a handful of field goals in the closing stages even as its own offense went cold.
At the start of the week, Chittenango hosted its own holiday tournament, and even without Alex Lum in the lineup the Bears won its opening-round game, topping the Canastota Raiders 61-46.
Jumping out 21-6 in the first quarter, Chittenango then protected that lead most of the rest of the way, led now by Tyrus Kelly, whose 22 points included four 3-pointers.
Ethan Smith also hit four times beyond the arc to account for all of his 12 points as Kyle Manwaring and Bryce Bishop both put up nine points.
In the final, the Bears challenged Solvay, who had beaten Oneida 56-44. Here, the absence of Lum was acutely felt as Chittenango was shut down for long stretches in a 59-27 defeat to the Bearcats.
As a whole, the Bears were held to just eight field goals, with only Jacob Dawkins getting two of them on his way to six points. Solvay got 20 points from tournament MVP Brock Bagozzi and 11 points from Justin Scott.
Two more games awaited, back-to-back, at week’s end, and Chittenango got red-hot from outside in Friday’s 69-55 victory over Homer.
The Bears hit on eight 3-pointers, three apiece by Kelly, who had 13 points, and Bishop, who had 12 points. Smith put up a team-high 15 points as Dawkins got 12 points and Brian Schermerhorn earned 10 points.
Then, against Vernon-Verona-Sherrill a day later, Chittenango lost, 67-48, to the Red Devils, who overcame the Bears’ early 13-7 advantage by outscoring them 21-5 in a decisive second quarter.
Lum returned to the Bears’ lineup and got 10 points, with Bishop earning 11 points. Kelly and Schermerhorn had seven points apiece as Bailey Janowski led VVS, earning 22 points.
Having fallen to 3-7, Chittenango would face Jordan-Elbridge and Bishop Grimes this week, while Cazenovia would go to Mexico and Institute of Technology Central.
