CAZENOVIA – A tough early-season slate for the Cazenovia boys basketball team culminated in a visit last Friday to Buckley Gym by a Christian Brothers Academy side sporting a 30-game win streak that dated back to January 2020.
The Lakers would not get close to stopping that run as the Brothers prevailed 68-26, led by a pair of athletes who were enjoying a memorable month.
Exactly two weeks earlier, CBA had completed an unlikely run to the state Class A football championship, edging Somers 32-31 in the Carrier Dome to cap a six-game post-season win streak after it had lost its last three regular-season games.
Leading that effort were Dan Anderson and Amari Pitts – and just four days after that state final, Anderson and Pitts were on the hardwood, leading CBA to a come-from-behind overtime win at Nottingham.
At Cazenovia on this night, Anderson managed 10 points and Pitts nine points, heading a Brothers side that built a 38-13 halftime lead and eventually had 13 different players on the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, the Lakers, stifled by the CBA defense all night, saw A.J. Rothfeld earn 10 points, the only Cazenovia player with more than one field goal. All of Jack Byrnes’ five points came at the free-throw line.
Another tough home game loomed last Monday against 5-1 Marcellus – until some COVID-19 cases among the Mustangs forced it to be postponed.
Cazenovia’s girls returned to action against visiting LaFayette Wednesday night and pulled out a 50-43 victory over the Lancers to improve to 5-1 overall.
LaFayette arrived at this game sporting a 6-1 record, and kept pace with the Lakers through a lively first quarter before inching into a 30-29 lead before halftime.
Fighting back, Cazenovia’s defense shut down the Lancers for long stretches of the second half, which made up for modest production as it took the lead in the third quarter and didn’t give it up.
Carleigh Szalach had another big night, her 24 points featuring three 3-pointers. Hadley Schug earned 11 points, with Katie Rajkowski adding six points. Cianna Papineau (18 points) and Grace Caughey (13 points) paced LaFayette.
