CENTRAL NEW YORK – One more time, the Chittenango boys basketball team would take the measure of Westhill next Tuesday night with the Section III Class A playoffs close at hand – but it will do so without its driving force.
When the Bears defeated Cortland 91-38 last Tuesday night, Ryan Moesch put up 30 points, only to leave the game with an injury that, once diagnosed, might rule him out for the rest of the regular season.
Deprived of one of the top scoring threats in all of New York State, Chittenango had to face Institute of Technology Central on Friday night and took a 52-45 defeat to the Eagles.
Accustomed to a fast tempo, the Bears had to slow things down, and it kept the game close all the way through as ITC, in order to win, had to play its own great defense in the latter stages, holding Chittenango to nine points in the fourth quarter.
Jack Lamphere did finish with 17 points, while Bernardo Bortovski managed 12 points and Jacob Bell eight points. To lead the Eagles, Nyquan Gilbert had 15 points and Lamar Watts got 11 points.
All of this followed a Cortland game that included Moesch’s 30 points and Brendon Barnard gaining all of his 18 points from six 3-pointers Thirteen of the 14 players on the roster got on the scoresheet, witth Bortovski chiming in thanks to his eight points and Bell putting up six points.
Cazenovia has faced plenty of its own struggles this winter, but put together one of its finest games of the season last Wednesday when it pummeled Jordan-Elbridge 62-38 at Buckley Gym in its only game of the week to improve to 7-10.
Trailing 12-9 after one period, the Lakers cranked up its defense, never letting the Eagles get to double digits in any of the three remaining quarters and holding its top scorer, Nolan Brunelle, to 10 points, his lowest total of the season.
More than doubling Brunelle’s output, Ben Bianco finished with 21 points, including three 3-pointers, and J-E couldn’t key on Bianco because Edmond Richardson was getting 15 points, Jakson Wilmot stepped up with nine points and Izaak Gilbert had eight points.
The Lakers have both of its remaining home games next week, welcoming Phoenix and Homer before closing the regular season Feb. 15 in a rematch with J -E.
