Though it fared better than it had in a while, the Chittenango boys basketball team still faced a defeat in Tuesday’s game against Cortland, falling to the Purple Tigers 51-45. The Bears carried a 13-11 edge through one period, but Cortland turned it around by doubling Chittenango’s output, 16-8, in the second quarter. From there, the margin remained steady as the Bears had a share of chances, but just could not convert. All this came despite Mike Major’s team-best effort of 21 points. Mike Moon had eight kills, with Cavanaugh Chaires adding six points. Jordan Prior (18 points) and Trevor Williamson (14 points) led Cortland’s effort. The girls Bears went to Cortland and hung close for a long while before ill-timed droughts made a difference in a 51-33 loss to the Purple Tigers. Each side played solid defense in the first half, Chittenango doing enough to stay within one, 18-17, as they went to halftime. But while Chittenango still fought hard for every single basket in the second half, Cortland won because it limited the Bears to just eight points in each of the remaining two periods, not enough to catch up. Alanna Haynes led with nine points, just ahead of Maggie Kendrick (eight points) and Kayleigh Clark, who had six points. Cortland saw Aubrey VanGorder pour in 18 points, with Courtney Tennant and Maggie Brown each got 11 points. Chittenango then played CBA Wednesday in the make-up of a Dec. 19 snow postponement, losing to the Brothers 75-36. Fuming from a pair of weekend losses at a tournament in Poughkeepsie, CBA took that anger out on the Bears, starting 24-7 and building a 66-22 advantage before cooling off late. Through this tornado of CBA offense, Clark and Haynes both had eight points, with Kendrick adding six points. Leanne Ockenden (15 points) and Kayla Stroman (13 points) led a CBA attack where nine players had two or more field goals. Both Chittenango teams met Fulton on Friday night.