CENTRAL NEW YORK – Following a 5-1 start, the Cazenovia girls basketball team endured a stretch of three defeats in four games, capped by a Jan. 20 loss to its neighbors from Chittenango.
Not pleased about this, the Lakers took out some frustrations on an overmatched 1-9 Madison squad last Monday night, not letting up until it had blasted the Blue Devils 75-10 for its most lopsided win of the season.
A 23-2 first quarter set the tone and Cazenovia kept going as four different players matched or topped Madison’s entire output for the night.
Carleigh Szalach doubled what the Blue Devils did, her 20 points augmented by 11 points from Ella Baker and Anna Edwards and 10 points from Katie Rajkowski as Hadley Schug added eight points and Hannah Ruddy six points.
Cazenovia faced Jordan-Elbridge two nights later, the Eagles riding a four-game win streak and playing on even terms before a strong second half allowed the Lakers to prevail 51-39.
J-E led for large portions of the first half, and it was still even, 24-24, before a third quarter where Cazenovia doubled the Eagles’ total, 14-7, and maintained strong defense the rest of the way.
Szalach again led the attack, drawing defensive attention and constantly going to the foul line. Of her 23 points, 11 were free throws as Katie Rajkowski had nine points, Baker seven points and Edwards six points.
Far tougher was Friday night’s game against state Class C no. 7-ranked LaFayette, though it was catching the Lancers coming off a loss to Weedsport the night before.
Still, Cazenovia ended up taking a 46-40 defeat, the key stretch coming in the third quarter. Breaking out of a 22-22 halftime tie, LaFayette held the Lakers to just five points in that period.
Despite Szalach finishing with 14 points, Cazenovia was unable to recover as Cianna Papineau led the Lancers with 22 points, five rebounds and six steals, while Grace Caughey had 10 points and Isabella Shenandoah-Kurtz got 15 rebounds.
Cazenovia’s game with Hannibal Saturday was its fourth in five days, but the Lakers still had enough energy to put together a 54-48 victory.
Outscoring Hannibal 19-11 in the second quarter to go in front, Cazenovia stayed there with Szalach again putting up big numbers, her 24 point augmented by nine points from Schug and eight points from Lily Clonan.
Meanwhile, Chittenango hoped that its recent wins would translate into good performances against noted opposition – but that didn’t prove the case in last Tuesday’s 44-22 defeat to Westhill.
The Warriors jumped all over the Bears, leading 20-5 after one period, and with strong defense never allowed Chittenango to catch up.
Alazayah Smith led her side with six points, but Westhill’s Catherine Dadey, with 22 points, equaled the entire Bears roster.
It was close again on Thursday against Syracuse West, but Chittenango was able to win it 49-45, going through a 28-19 stretch in the middle two quarters to erase an early deficit.
Again leading the way, Smith picked up 12 points, leading a well-balanced Bears attack. Mia McReynolds and Allison Soulier both got 10 points, with Hailee Froan adding nine points.
