A strong week that included a road victory at Skaneateles helped land the Solvay boys basketball team in the no. 24 spot in last week’s state Class B rankings.
But while Skaneateles fell out of the state poll, it made a case to return last Wednesday night by rallying late and, with a dramatic finish, knocking off Cazenovia 48-46.
Going in, Skaneateles was 10-3, but had lost two of its previous three games and now dealt with a Cazenovia side that had an 11-3 mark and was state-ranked at no. 27.
The two Lakers sides went through a closely played first half. Nate Fouts’ 10 points helped Skaneateles inch in front, 24-23, and it extended its margin to 34-26 before Cazenovia went on a 15-2 run to close the third quarter.
Fighting back, Skaneateles found itself in a tense struggle through the final minutes, neither team able to produce much for long stretches.
Down by two, 46-44, Skaneateles evened it up with Jack Whirtley’s free throws with 29 seconds to play.
Then, after a Cazenovia miss, the home Lakers, not calling a time-out, rushed downcourt, Whirtley passing it to Max Wamp, who put in the go-ahead basket with less than three seconds left.
When Cazenovia was unable to answer, Skaneateles had one of its best wins of the season, Fouts having finished with 16 points and Whirtley with 15 points, the same total as Cazenovia’s Alex Moesch, who led his side.
Now it was up to the Bearcats to live up to that billing, and in last Tuesday’s game at Chittenango it did so, relying mostly on a strong third quarter to beat the Bears 53-47.
A low-scoring first half on both ends left Solvay clinging to a 25-21 lead, but it outscored Chittenango 14-4 in the third period, which allowed it to withstand a late Bears push.
Brock Bagozzi and Elijah Wright led the way, earning 14 points apiece, while Will Evans stepped up with 11 points and Jaimen Bliss had eight points as Chittenango’s Bryce Bishop led all scorers with1 7 points.
Solvay went for five in a row Thursday against Holland Patent and attained it, the Bearcats again taking over in the third quarter thanks to a 20-9 run as it won 72-50 over the Golden Knights.
Bagozzi’s 22 points included three 3-pointers and help from Wright, who again had 14 points, and Bliss, who stepped up for 13 points as Brendon Carolina got six points.
Marcellus, hammered on Jan. 17 in a loss to Bishop Ludden, rebounded well in last Tuesday’s game against Cato-Meridian, bashing the Blue Devils 77-49.
A 17-4 second-quarter push broke the game open, the Mustangs leading 41-21 by halftime as Matt Kershaw would earn 22 points and Luke Ingianni got 15 points. Will Kimber, Corey Cangemi and Jared Sammon had eight points apiece.
Taking on Hannibal two nights later, Marcellus won again, 61-37, this despite trailing 28-27 at the end of an indifferent first half.
But the Mustangs outscored the Warriors 24-2 in the fourth quarter, a rush to the finish line that saw Ingianni and Ryan Sammon each finish with 13 points, while Cangemi and Tristan Jarvi each had nine points.
Jordan-Elbridge was upended last Wednesday in a narrow 52-51 defeat to state Class C no. 12-ranked Onondaga, who moved to 11-2 despite Dakota Holbrook (16 points), Alex Pond (12 points) and Tyler Waldron (11 points) all hitting double figures for the Eagles.
But the Eagles prevailed 59-48 over Mater Dei Academy two nights later to improve to 10-5 overall. Holbrook had 20 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, while Pond and Jeremy Meili both finished with 14 points.
