CENTRAL NEW YORK – Even if it seemed inevitable given the talent and experience on hand, the Cazenovia boys tennis team’s run to another Section III Class C championship was still a product of lots of hard work.
And it culminated Friday afternoon at Nottingham High School, where the Lakers turned back the challenge of Manlius Pebble Hill 4-1 to again claim the sectional title.’
Equaling the 4-1 win it earned over the Trojans in the regular season, the Lakers quickly got two points in singles when Traian Cherciu beat Jasmin Zaman and Garret Lounsbury topped Jon Howard by equal 6-0, 6-1 margins.
It was Gabe Reagan who clinched the team title in third singles, winning the first set 6-3 over Savir Gambhir and then breaking serve late in the second set to take it 6-4 and gain the third point.
Still, two doubles matches were left, and both would go to three sets.
Cy Lurie and Ethan Camp could not hold an early lead in a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 defeat to Andy and Sam Lurvey, but Evan Molloy and Max Reger, after dropping their first set 6-4 to Abe Salomon and Devin Trikha, won the next two sets by that exact same score.
The sectional run began last Monday when the top-seeded Lakers blanked no. 8 seed Holland Patent 5-0.
Lounsbury’s 6-3, 6-2 singles win over HP’s Jeff Dewar was the closest match. Reagan blanked Ethan Paladino 6-0, 6-0 as Molloy, getting a turn in singles, handled Conner Swift 6-1, 6-1. Cherciu paired with Reger to beat Chris Kelly and Nick Sheets 6-1, 6-2 as Camp and Lurie beat Mason Rasmussen and Tyler Tydesley 6-1, 6-1.
Up against no. 4 seed Mount Markham in the semifinals a day later, Cazenovia again had full command of the match, putting away the Mustangs 5-0 to earn a trip to the championship round.
Back in singles, Cherciu put away Bryant Denzz 6-0, 6-1, and by those same scores Reagan rolled past Robert Huntley as Lounsbury got the 6-0, 6-0 shutout of Edmond Yang.
A third 6-0, 6-1 match had, in doubles, Molloy and Reger defeat Madaline Briggs and Aubrey Hartman, while Lurie and Camp worked their way past Oscar Yang and Hailey Fitch 6-0. 6-2.
Weather interrupted the other semifinal between no. 6 seed MPH and no. 7 seed Skaneateles, so Cazenovia had to wait to see who would face in the finals.
Eventually, it turned out to be MPH after it edged Skaneateles 3-2, just as Cazenovia was making up a previous match with Cortland and winning it 7-0, featuring a singles match where Cherciu held off Tyler Cranfield 6-2, 7-5 as Lounsbury, paired with Godfred Asante, won 6-2, 6 -0 over Jeremie Hale and Andre Myers.
The win over the Trojans put the Lakers at 17-0 as it returns to the state Class C tournament next week, meeting Plattsburgh (Section VII) in the regional semifinals.
