CENTRAL NEW YORK – It was quite a way for the Cazenovia girls basketball team to reach double digits in the win column.
Against the same Phoenix side it lost to at home less than two weeks earlier, the Lakers controlled matters start to finish and didn’t let up until it had put away the Firebirds 54-32.
From that 59-53 it took to Phoenix Jan. 31 Cazenovia adjusted its game, especially on the defensive side, and proved aggressive from the outset taking a 14-7 lead by the end of the first quarter.
Just as good at the start of the second half, the Lakers’ 19-11 push through the third period decided matters, the attack led by Maria Vaccaro as the freshman got 24 points, her 12th consecutive game scoring in double digits, plus nine rebounds.
Claire Vaccaro wasn’t left out, either, earning 11 points and four steals as Jocelyn Szalach got nine points, while Ella Baker, held to five points, still picked up nine rebounds. Hannah Caltabiano led Phoenix with 11 points.
Two days later against Mount Markham, the Lakers showed a different side to its game producing, by a 10-point margin, its best offensive total of the season on the way to a 75-53 victory over the Mustangs.
Hardly missing throughout a dominant first half, Cazenovia led 36-16 at the break and extended that margin to 58-29 by the end of the third period.
Baker broke out, hitting three 3-pointers on her way to 22 points overall which tied her season mark and also edged the total of 21 points from Maria Vaccaro. Also stepping up, Claire Vaccaro got 13 points and Hadyen Bubble, with nine points, nearly joined them in double figures.
This perfect week for Cazenovia concluded Saturday with a decisive effort in the Laker duel against Skaneateles which resulted in a 49-32 victory, the team’s fifth in a row.
Dominant in all phases of the game in the first half Cazenovia led 37-11 at intermission and still won big even without scoring a single point in the fourth quarter. Claire Vaccaro, with 23 points, and Maria Vaccaro with 14 points did most of the scoring damage.
Back on Thursday night, Chittenango took on Christian Brothers Academy having won four in a row and seven of its last eight games to recover from a 2-8 start and climb all the way to the .500 mark.
But the Bears’ climb was halted in a 49-32 defeat to the Brothers, who outscored them 28-15 in the second and third quarters to get clear led by 15 points from Liana Thomas.
CBA contained Abby Scheidelman, holding the Chittenango standout to 10 points. Dominique Brown earned eight points, with Ella Sylsrta contributing six points.
