CENTRAL NEW YORK – In front of its home crowd last Saturday afternoon, the Chittenango boys basketball team set out on its post-season quest to repeat as Section III Class B champions.
The state no. 6-ranked Bears did so as the no. 2 seed only because Central Valley Academy, with a perfect 20-0 mark, grabbed the top seed.
None of this worried Chittenango much as it faced a familiar Onondaga High School League opponent, in no. 15 seed Institute of Technology Central, and roared to an 89-51 victory over the Eagles.
Pushing the tempo from the outset, the Bears racked up 30 first-quarter points. ITC simply could not keep up, the margin growing to 51-27 by halftime and Ryan Moesch, in particular, proving unstoppable.
Hitting on 12 field goals, six of them 3-pointers, along with six free throws, Moesch put up 36 points, making the Eagles pay for all the attention they gave to Alex Moesch, who had just 11 points.
Ty Kelly wasn’t quiet, either, the 1,000-point senior getting 19 points and hitting four 3-pointers to help lead Chittenango to a sectional quarterfinal Tuesday against no. 7 seed Camden.
Back on Thursday night, Cazenovia entered the playoff fray as the no. 13 seed in Class B, hosting no. 20 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill at Buckley Gym in the opening round.
And the Lakers were unable to advance, falling 46-38 to the Red Devils, who held top scorer Ben Bianco to just four points. Bobby Livingston had 11 points, four assists and three rebounds, with Jack Byrnes and Tanner Lawson each earning eight points as Byrnes got 10 rebounds, Lawson nine rebounds and Alex Kuper 12 rebounds.
Cazenovia had closed the regular season last Tuesday by defeating Homer 57-42, a game that was close early, but changed when the Lakers outscored the Trojans 14-5 in the third quarter.
Ben Bianco poured in 26 points, adding five rebounds. Tanner Lawson had nine points and eight rebounds, with Jack Byrnes getting seven points and 10 rebounds as Alex Kuper got 11 rebounds and six points.
That would prove to be Cazenovia’s last victory as VVS made sure the Lakers concluded with a 9-12 mark.
