CENTRAL NEW YORK – When the Chittenango boys basketball team planned to go to Buckley Gym to face Cazenovia last Friday night before it got snowed out, it did so having made it all the way back near the .500 mark after starting the season 2-7.
The Bears were riding a four-game win streak which began when it turned back Cazenovia 64-55 on Jan. 30. Two wins followed against Jordan-Elbridge, including last Monday night’s 63-53 decision.
Having routed the Eagles 73-46 on Feb. 4, Chittenango found the rematch far closer, J-E only trailing by two, 27-25, at halftime before the Bears slowly pulled away in the second half.
Overcoming 32 points by J-E standout Evan Brunelle, Chittenango had its production more spread out beyond Jacob Cheek’s 19 points and Jacob Bell’s 17 points. Mason Corlis earned eight points, with Seamus Gardner getting seven points, David Oyewele six points and Kyle Wehrlin five points.
Then the Bears got past Oneida 57-50 two nights later, moving to 7-8 overall as, again, a strong second half was produced, Chittenango outscoring the Express 18-10 in the third quarter after trailing 29-27 at the break.
Gardner’s 18 points was his second-best total of the season (he had 21 against J-E a week earlier), with Cheek picking up 14 points and Bell contributing 12 points.
Preparing for the Chittenango rematch Cazenovia tried for a regular-season sweep of Phoenix, yet could not quite keep the Firebirds from pulling out a 49-47 decision.
In a non-league game on Saturday afternoon the Bears would gain its fifth straight win and reach the .500 mark at 8-8 by handling Canastota 76-50.
Gaining a 42-15 advantage by halftime, Chittenango would spread out its production. Bell (13 points) and Zailor Caras (11 points) each hit on three 3-pointers, Wehrllin adding 12 points as Cheek got nine points. Three others – Oyewele, Chris Dines and Finnegan Gardner – earned eight points apiece.
