CENTRAL NEW YORK – When the Chittenango boys basketball team turned back a a challenge from Cazenovia on Jan. 30, it signaled that the vast struggles of the early season for the Bears led to marked improvement from mid-January and beyond.
The Bears then carried his energy over into last Tuesday’s game against Jordan-Elbridge, bolting out to a 39-15 lead by halftime on the way to handling the Eagles 73-46.
Even with J-E’s Nolan Brunelle leading all scorers with 28 points, Chittenango rolled because it had more contributors, starting with Seamus Gardner, who produced 21 points, by far his best total of the season.
Jacob Cheek, with 19 points, was close behind, Mason Corlis stepping up with 15 points as he and Finnegan Gardner, who had nine points, each hit on three 3-pointers.
Cazenovia went from its defeat to Chittenango to a tougher game last Tuesday against Phoenix, who had just joined the state Class B rankings in the no. 24 spot.
In the first of two late-season meetings with the Firebirds the Lakers lost, 74-46, mostly held in check throughout the night by a steady Phoenix defense which held two key Cazenovia players, Edmond Richardson and Bobby Livingston, to six points apiece.
Ben Bianco did get 24 points including four 3-pointers, but the Firebirds still pulled clear as Nate Fortman matched Bianco’s 24 points and got help from Edward Kelly, who had 16 points, and Tallen Prior, who had 13 points.
A tonic for Cazenovia arrived on Friday in the form of J-E, against whom it scored 97 points when the two sides met two weeks earlier.
While not quite as potent in the rematch at Buckley Gym, the Lakers still won big 90-76, converting at will against a porous Eagles defense while building a 76-59 lead through three quarters.
Even with J-E’s Nolan Brunelle netting 38 points, the Lakers had more scoring depth, Richardson rebounding from his Phoenix struggles to pour in 28 points as Bianco’s 25 points included six 3-pointers. Gavin Wagner had a season-best 15 points, with Livingston earning 11 points.
In girls basketball Chittenango, once 1-7, earned its fifth win in six games by topping Homer 48-36, a game which was tight for three quarters before the Bears outscored the Trojans 17-6 in the final period.
Abby Scheidelman resumed her place at the forefront of the Bears’ attack, pouring in 20 points to go with seven steals and five rebounds. Isabelle Damon grabbed 13 rebounds and Dominique Brown 10 rebounds to dominate the glass as Ella Sylstra had 10 points and Persephone Rohrer added six points.
A 46-11 romp over Solvay followed on Friday night, Chittenango opening with a 20-0 first quarter and extending the margin to 29-2 by halftime as Scheidelman’s 19 points outscored the Bearcats. Brown had eight points, Rohrer getting seven points and Damon six points.
Cazenovia’s girls team was back on the court Saturday to face Jordan-Elbridge, and Maria Vaccaro continued her recent hot stretch in the course of a 61-33 victory over the Eagles that moved the Lakers’ overall record to 9-7.
With Vaccaro constantly converting, Cazenovia outscored J-E 27-3 in a decisive second quarter. For the game, Vaccaro managed 29 points, helped in a big way by Ella Baker, who finished with 16 points as Sophie Rheaume had eight points.
