Chittenango sweeps VVS to reach semifinals

Olden, Curtis lead Raiders to win

The Chittenango girls volleyball team advanced to the Class A semifinals with a 2519, 25-22, 27-25win.

Trailing 17-9after the first quarter, the Canastota boys basketball used a 12-0run in the second to regain control and defeat Chittenango 6044in a non-league contest on Wednesday night.

CHITTENANGO>> Coming off an overtime victory in its last game, the Canastota boys basketball team got off to a slow start against Chittenango on Wednesday night, falling behind 17-9 af- ter the first quarter.

Then the Raiders’ seniors took over.

Bailey Curtis and Jeff Olden led a 12-0 run in the next frame to give Canastota the lead for good in a 60-44 victory.

“We dug a hole early,” Canastota coach Bob Baker said. “I think our senior lead- ership finally took ahold of things and put us back in the game.”

Curtis got the Raiders off toa strong start, stealing the ball on Chittenango’s first possession and netting a layup to give his team quick 2-0 lead. But the Bears didn’t need long to rebound, piecing together their longest scoring run of the night behind 3-pointers by Matt Mil- liman and Eli Kim. With Canastota trailing 14-4, Curtis recorded five consecutive points to cut that advantage to 14-9 but Kim netted another 3-pointer to close the period and put Chittenango back up by eight points.

The Raiders would complete their comeback in the next frame. Tanner Walts and Curtis netted back-toback 3-pointers, sparking 12 unanswered points and a 28-23 lead for the visitors. The Bears tried to cut that advantage before the break, coming back to within three points on a basket by Kim, but Jake Purdy was perfect at the line to send Canastota into halftime with a 3025 lead.

Curtis began the second half in the same way he began the first, recording a steal and a layup to stretch the Raiders’ advantage to 32-25. Kim countered with a 3-pointer for Chittenango but Ryan Zophy sparked another small scoring run to make it a 10-point game at the end of the third quarter.

The Raiders would pull away for good in the final frame. After a 3-pointer by Milliman, Curtis and Olden combined for seven more points to put the game out of reach. Milliman closed the scoring for the Bears, netting his sixth 3-point shot of the night to make it a 60-44 final.