While it still waited for Ashley Stec’s ankle to heal, the Cazenovia girls basketball team endured its biggest scare of the young season during Monday’s opening round of the Unadilla Valley Tournament. Up against Harpursville in the first round, the Lakers had to battle until the final possession, but did enough to register a 45-43 victory. From the start, Harpursville showed that it could work past Cazenovia’s formidable defenses and get baskets. This kept things close, as the Lakers only led 28-23 going into halftime. No matter what it tried, Cazenovia could not pull away, the game in doubt deep into the fourth quarter, but led by Taylor Malmsheimer, the Lakers held on. All Malmsheimer did was pour in 20 points, nearly half of Cazenovia’s output, and sank four 3-pointers along the way. Ellen Burr finished with nine points, while Colleen Dougherty produced eight points and Raeanne Clabeaux got six points. In Tuesday’s final against Sherburne-Earlville (who beat host Unadilla 53-42 to get to this point), the Lakers had a far easier time of it, rolling past the Marauders 53-30. Again, Cazenovia’s defense seized the spotlight, especially in a second quarter where it held S-E to just five points, allowing the Lakers to slide into a 26-13 lead. All through the second half, the margin kept growing. Malmsheimer (named the tournament MVP) cooled off, to six points, but Clabeaux and Burr stepped up, providing inside-outside balance. Clabeaux’s 18 points included both of Cazenovia’s 3-pointers on the day, while Burr took control in the paint and also had 18 points. As this was going on, Cazenovia’s boys basketball team, who had beaten Marcellus just before the holiday break, continued that momentum into the Fabius-Pompey Tournament – and almost earned the championship of that event. The Lakers beat the host F-P Falcons 56-44 in Tuesday’s opening round. More steady than spectacular, Cazenovia methodically built a 43-29 lead through three periods, so it had the margin to withstand the Falcons’ late surge. Each of the 12 Cazenovia players that saw action got at least one field goal, with Tanner Whiteman at the helm as he earned 11 points. David McEntee had a season-best eight points, while Doyle Judge and Ben Romagnoli got seven points apiece. Moving on to Wednesday’s final, Cazenovia faced Oneida, from the Class A ranks, who had beaten Cincinnatus 65-53 to reach this point. In a tense battle not decided until the closing seconds, the Lakers lost to the Indians 58-55 in a game it appeared to have control of, at least in the early going. With its defense continuing to improve, Cazenovia roughed up Oneida in the first half and worked its way to a 29-22 lead. Then it disappeared as, in the third quarter, the Lakers went cold and couldn’t hit its shots, allowing Oneida to tie it 37-37. Led by Kyle Peck, who had 21 points, and Benn DeRocker, who earned nine of his 17 points at the free-throw line, the Indians edged in front in the fourth quarter and stayed there, despite all of Cazenovia’s tries to get back even. Whiteman and Chris Schaffner paced Cazenovia, each finishing with 14 points. Ben Romagnoli had eight points as Judge and Joe Romagnoli earned six points apiece. Cazenovia’s teams both head back into the OHSL Liberty division in the first full week of 2011 for games against Hannibal and Bishop Grimes.