Caz girls basketball goes 1-1 in sectional playoffs

PHIl blACkWEll

bY

Glimpses of success throughout their respective regular seasons gave the Cazenovia and Chittenango girls basketball teams some optimism going into the Section III Class B playoffs.

In a large 24-team bracket and open-tournament bracket, the no. 14 seed Lakers and no. 21 seed Bears both would have to win opening-round games last Thursday night – but only one did so.

Hosting no. 19 seed South Jefferson at Buckley Gym, Cazenovia was superb on defense throughout the game’s early stages, riding that effort to a 43-31 victory over the Spartans.

All through the first two quarters, the Lakers made sure South Jefferson didn’t get many open looks, translating to just four points in the first quarter and two points in the second period.

And though the Spartans cut the Lakers’ margin to 30-20 entering the fourth quarter, it got no closer, Cazenovia led mostly by Ella Baker, who poured in 19 points, nearly half her team’s output.

Help came from Katie Rajkowski, who had eight points, along with Bess Johnson and Olivia Ruddy, who got six points apiece. No South Jefferson player scored in double figures.

Now Cazenovia would try to upset no. 3 seed Cortland in Saturday’s second round, but the Lakers never got close as it fell 68-31 to the Purple Tigers, who had mostly faced Class A competition all season.

Cortland built a 56-18 lead through three quarters, led by Valerosa Gambitta’s 24 points.

Johnson, with 11 points, and Baker, with 10 points, got most of Cazenovia’s production.

As for Chittenango, it had to go face no. 12 seed Phoenix, whom it beat late in December –something the Firebirds remembered quite well, as it turned out.

Any hopes the Bears had repeating that early-season surprise got dashed quickly, Phoenix shut- ting them out in the first quarter and recording 18 unanswered points.

Never able to recover from that early drought, Chittenango lost, 59-27, seeing Hailee Foran pick up 16 points but no other player get more than one field goal.

Phoenix, by contrast, had all 11 players which saw action get on the board, led by Alaynna Dashnau and Courtney Carter, who had 10 points apiece, and Ava Kuropatwinski, who got eight points.

Cazenovia had gone up last Monday against Class A contender Central Square and lost, 41-22, to the Redhawks, who built a 2614 advantage by halftime.

Contained in the late going, the Lakers still got 10 points from Baker and seven points from Rajkowski. Natalie Bush led Central Square with 13 points as Gabrielle Basile and Emerson Widowski had 10 points apiece. Chittenango would end up 6-14 in the regular season after last Monday’s 46-20 defeat to Oswego, who never let the Bears score more than six points in any single quarter.

Foran and Alazayah Smith had eight points apiece, but the rest of the roster had just two field goals as the Buccaneers’ Adriana Ellis had 21 points to outscore the opposition and Sophia Babcock got 12 points.

Cazenovia ice hockey 1-1 in sectional playoffs

bY PHIl blACkWEll

Just as in 2022, the fate of the Cazenovia ice hockey team, and its hopes of winning the Section III Division I championship, rested on taking down a long-established powerhouse on its own home ice.

Unlike a year ago, this took place in the quarterfinal round, not the semifinals, and instead of a trip north to face Baldwinsville, it was a ride to Shove Park to deal with defending sectional champion West Genesee.

And from the moment the puck dropped, the Lakers found itself reeling, as an all- out Wildcats attack did not let up until it had gone well past double digits and, by a 12-3 margin, ended Cazenovia’s season.

They had first played Dec. 14 at the SUNY-Morrisville IcePlex, where WG won 5-1. Here, that number was reached long before the two sides would shake hands at game’s end.

Will Schneid got WG on the board 5:20 into the first period and Cazenovia answered it with Logan Hull’s goal, but that would prove the high point as Jack Giannuzzi, Owen Zoanetti and Jack Mellen all converted late in the first for the Wild - cats. Even as Cazenovia converted twice more in the second period thanks to power-play tallies by Jack Donlin, the margin kept growing, Schneid adding two goals for a hat trick and Jared Jaeger hitting back-toback goals, one of them shorthanded.

Ryan Considine’s goal stretched it out to 9-3 going to the third period, and Cazenovia was kept off the board late as Schneid tacked on a fourth goal to go with his three assists, aided by goals from Liam Burns and Will Shields.

Forrest Ives, Shamus New - comb and Bryson Weaver each got one assist, with Ezra Stahlberg and Tucker Ives combining to make 28 saves as the Lakers’ season ended with an 11-10-1 record.

All of this was set up by last Tuesday’s opening-round game at the IcePlex, where the Lakers battled its way to a 3-1 victory over Mohawk Valley.

Despite a 4-15 regular-season record, the Jugglers had only fallen 2-1 to Cazenovia when they faced off on this same ice 10 days earlier, and the playoff rematch was just as close most of the way.

MV

goalie Noah Narolis

stopped all 10 shots he faced in a scoreless first period, but Forrest Ives twice put shots past him in the second period, reaching the 100-point mark for his career in the process.

Luke Williams scored for the Magicians, so it was 2-1 going into the third, where it wasn’t until Hull, who assisted on one of Ives’ goals, scored that the Lakers got some breathing room.

Donlin picked up a pair of assists, with an effective Cazenovia defense limiting MV to 18 shots, 17 of which were stopped by Stahlberg. Narolis finished with 25 saves.

Chittenango girls volleyball reign as sectional champs

PHIl blACkWEll

bY

Perhaps the Chittenango girls volleyball team had more dominant sides in seasons past, but in 2023 the destination ended up the same – much to the Bears’ satisfaction.

By handling Christian Brothers Academy in three sets last Saturday at Case Middle School in Watertown, Chittenango reclaimed the Section III Class B winter championship.

Not once in three sectional matches did Chittenango so much as surrender a set, quite a contrast to what CBA had to go through, emerging from a no. 2 seed with five-set playoff wins over South Jefferson and Camden.

Another long match seemed a possibility during the opening set, even though the Bears twice beat the Brothers in four-set matches on Jan. 30 and Feb. 6.

Each side had scoring runs, but faced with a single set point, Chittenango converted it, won that set 25-23, and then would control the second set, taking it 25-16.

Though it was a bit closer in the third set, the Bears claimed the sectional title 25-20, with its foundation a tremendous defense that had five players reach double-digit dig totals.

Cara Kielbasa had 19 digs, with Taylor Streiff getting 14 digs to go with her five kills. Rachel Glibert not onl y had 12 digs, she contributed four aces, four kills and two blocks.

Anna Spencer put together

11 digs and seven assists, while Jadyn Seguin stepped up with 10 digs as Alex Sylstra earned six digs, four kills and six assists.

From its top seed, the Bears didn’t get stressed too much in either of its matches leading up to CBA, sweeping Adirondack in the quarterfinals and then doing the same in last Wednesday’s semifinal against Oneida.

By scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-21, Chittenango steadily put away the Indians, led by Rachel Gilbert, who served up seven aces to go with seven kills, six blocks and nine digs. Spencer had nine assists and 11 digs, with Sydney Martin getting five assists and four aces. Stephanie Huckabee had 15 digs, four kills and two aces as Streiff managed 10 digs and Kielbasa nine digs.

CBA would fall in the same manner, and another volleyball season at Chittenango ended with a happy scene and a sectional banner to display.

bY PHIl blACkWEll

In order to complete an undefeated regular season, the Chittenango boys volleyball team had to get through three more matches in a four-day span, a task made more difficult by the amount of time spent on the court.

When the Bears battled Vernon-VeronaSherrill last Tuesday night, it marked the third consecutive match where it had to work five sets, all of which it won.

Having survived similar battles with Rome Free Academy and Canastota on back-to-back days Feb. 10 and 11, now it was the Red Devils’ turn, having lost in four to Chittenango in late January.

An easy 25-14 win in the first set by the Bears l From page 1 and International Wire/Continental Cordage’s donation will enable the Cazenovia Fire Department to help that number grow.

“The Cazenovia Fire Department is very appreciative of the donation from International Wire,” said Emerson. “. . . When we respond to calls and notice homes was followed by VVS pulling even 25-21 in the second. The third set went back and forth, but the Red Devils claimed it 26-24 to move out in front.

However, that seemed to take a toll because Chittenango pulled back even by winning the fourth, 25-19, and now in a fifth-set setting to which it was quite accustomed, the Bears won without smoke detectors or malfunctioning ones, we can offer [the residents] one to give [them] peace of mind that they will be protected. Residents are reminded of the ‘Close Before You Doze’ policy; closing your bedroom doors before going to bed can greatly slow the spread of fire into living spaces while giving you time to initiate your escape plan. Practicing exit drills with your family is a great way to be sure everyone has an escape plan and meeting place in the event of an emergency and is a great time to check the batteries and condition of your smoke detectors.” it 15-9 to make it 14 in a row.

For more information on ‘Close Before You Doze’ and Exit Drills in the Home, visit the Cazenovia Fire Department’s Facebook page.

Trevor Cole, with 16 kills, led a Chittenango front line where Landon Parks got 10 kills and four aces and Micah Alpuerto nine kills.

Cole Thomas produced 31 assists, adding six kills. Jackson Blaszkow got five kills as Lawson Pagorek earned 28 digs.

VVS, in defeat, got 46 assists from Ryan Mumford, his passes often going to Nolan Robinson, who had 19 kills as Zach Cullen, Ryan Mitchell and Nicolas LavesaCesana had eight kills apiece.

Now it was Central Valley Academy, and for once the Bears didn’t need any extra work, taking just three sets to put away the Thunder 25-17, 25-17, 25-9.

Alpuerto, with four aces, set the tone, adding eight kills and 10 digs. Parks and Cole had five kills apiece, Parks adding three blocks and Thomas four blocks to go with 25 assists and five digs. Pagorek added nine digs.

Finally, it was Friday’s match against Oneida, where the 13-2 Indians seemed ready to add that lone blemish, only to see the Bears stage a stirring comeback for yet another five-set win.

Oneida rolled through those first two sets 2513 and 25-14, but again

Chittenango proved resilient, rolling to a 25-18 win in the third set. Pushed to the brink in the fourth set, the Bears got the clutch points to win 25-23 and, in the final set, topped the Indians 15-8, overcoming Spencer Igmire’s 28 kills, Robert Paul’s 34 assists and Ryan Paul’s 24 digs. Leading Chittenango’s front line, Alpuerto had 16 kills and 12 digs. Cole had 11 kills and eight digs, with Parks earning eight kills and 13 digs. Kai Streeter six kills and Roger Mulholland five kills. Pagorek earned 22 digs and Thomas fed everyone with his 36 assists.