For a few fleeting minutes, the Cazenovia boys basketball team allowed itself a chance to dream.
The Lakers were in Tuesday’s Section III Class B quarterfinals, up against Lowville, who was not only the top seed and defending champions, but also the state’s top-ranked team.
And throughout the first quarter, despite the overflow home crowd and the Red Raiders’ daunting reputation, Cazenovia, the no. 8 seed, was hitting its shots and only trailed by a single basket.
Then the dream came to an abrupt end as Lowville, unleashing its pressure, overwhelmed the Lakers the rest of the half and never looked back, ultimately handing Cazenovia a 70-47 defeat.
Having ousted Westhill 62-57 in the opening round Feb. 20 at Buckley Gym, the Lakers saw Alex Moesch lead a strong opening sequence, Cazenovia finding itself only down 18-15 through one period.
So Lowville picked up its defensive pressure and then proceeded to blank the Lakers for most of the second quarter, ultimately going on a 20-2 run to close out the half.
The deficit grew to 58-30 by the end of the third quarter and, to its credit, Cazenovia battled to the end, Moesch finishing with 16 points and Patrick Linck getting 10 points as Keegan Bailey and Ty Freyer each had eight points.
To lead the Red Raiders, Aidan Macaulay had 26 points and eight assists. Chad Bach got 16 points and 12 rebounds, while Gavin Macaulay had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists as Aiden Zehr had 10 points.
Cazenovia finished with a 13-9 overall record as six seniors, including Bailey, Freyer, Ryan Romagnoli, Mike Parella, Bryan Roca and Robert Liddell will graduate, but Moesch, Linck and A.J. Rothfeld will lead the returning cast for 2020-21.
