CENTRAL NEW YORK – Though it took a couple of tries, the Cazenovia boys basketball team was able to hand new head coach Chris Bubble his first victory in charge.

It happened last Tuesday night, when the Lakers met Phoenix at Buckley Gym and, mostly led by its defense, pulled away to defeat the Firebirds 48-31.

They were tied, 8-8, through one period, but then Cazenovia outscored Phoenix 11-4 the rest of the half and kept pulling further away in the third quarter.

When Cazenovia was able to convert, it mostly fell to sophomore Ben Bianco, who hit four 3-pointers and finished with 22 points overall, nearly half the Lakers’ output.

Jack Byrnes, the four-sport star heading to Hobart College for baseball, filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists. This helped overcome 20 points by Phoenix’s Lincoln Kersey.

Meeting PSLA-Fowler on Saturday at Corcoran High School during the Syracuse City Invitational, Cazenovia pulled out a 47-46 decision over the Falcons.

Gradually, an early 17-13 lead went away, but in the final period the Lakers outscored Fowler 10-9, which just proved enough.

Bianco again carried the offense, his 25 points including four more 3-pointers. This time, Alex Kuper offered the main help, getting six of his 12 points at the foul line as Spencer Wellington paced the Falcons with 22 points.

All this followed a surprising home opener for defending sectional Class B champion Chittenango, who had knocked off CBA exactly a week earlier, but found itself contained by Marcellus.

The Mustangs prevailed 46-40 by controlling the game’s tempo and stepping up on defense, limiting the Bears to five points in the first quarter and mostly preventing any sort of scoring run.

Between them, Alex Moesch, with 18 points, and Ryan Moesch, with 16 points, accounted for most of the offense, Marcellus containing the rest and getting 21 points from Will Kershaw as Pat Louer added 10 points.