CENTRAL NEW YORK – After all of the superb performances it put together this winter, nothing other than a Section III Class B championship would satisfy the Chittenango boys basketball team.
And the Bears would go into the tournament holding the top seed, its 19-1 record affording it a bye amid an open format that would incorporate 23 teams, with only the top nine seeds avoiding an opening-round game.
In Saturday’s second round, Chittenango faced no. 16 seed Solvay, who ousted Homer in the opening round, and found plenty to celebrate in the course of a 73-55 victory over the Bearcats.
There was the typical fast start, with the Bears roaring to a 23-6 lead by the end of the first quarter and extending that margin to 48-21 by halftime.
And there was Alex Moesch earning his 1,000th career point on a day where he finished with 17 points overall, just one part of a dangerous, well-balanced attack.
Bryce Bishop’s 19 points mostly came from five 3-pointers, with Ty Kelly getting 16 points, Ryan Moesch 10 points and Jacob Dawkins nine pionts, sending Chittenango into Tuesday’s sectional quarterfinal against no. 8 seed Skaneateles
Before this, Chittenango sewed up its top seed by bashing Oneida 95-53 last Tuesday night, yet another instance of the Bears putting up dazzling offensive numbers.
In this case, it amounted to 67 first-half points, a season best, and an 85-37 lead gained through three quarters as three players hit the 20-point mark.
Combined, Kelly, Alex Moesch and Ryan Moeschhit 12 3-pointers, Alex earning 28 points and Ryan setting a career mark with 25 points as Kelly earned 20 points.
Carrying far more modest expectations, Cazenovia entered the sectional tournament at 7-13 after a pair of early-week defeats.
Following last Monday’s 60-47 loss to its Laker rivals from Skaneateles, Cazenovia tried to recover against Marcellus a day later, only to get overwhelmed in a 72-31 loss to the Mustangs.
All that mattered, though, was what would happen Thursday when the no. 18 seed Lakers visited no. 15 seed Holland Patent in the opening round of the sectional tournament.
Yet the Lakers could not break its skid, falling 73-57 to the Golden Knights. Trailing 21-15 after one period, the Lakers ate away at that deficit in the game’s middle stages.
Alarmed by this, HP closed on a 24-9 run to end Cazenovia’s season, this despite A.J. Rothfeld leading all scorers with 27 points and Ben Bianco adding 11 points. The Golden Knights got 22 points from Nick Acevedo, 17 points from Jeff Devar and 16 points from Markise Magyar.
