Fueled by an opportunistic, turnover-creating defensive effort, Chazy pulled away to a 50-31 victory over Lake Placid in a Mountain and Valley Athletic Conference matchup on the Blue Bombers’ floor.

Lake Placid never trailed by double digits before the intermission, but that changed after halftime as Chazy steadily extended its advantage and improved to 10-8 overall with the win. The Blue Bombers, who were missing starter Jake Coursen due to illness, fell to 5-12 overall with the setback.

Kyle Cahoon and Alex Chapman turned in standout performances for the Eagles, who just a year ago finished their season with a 1-16 record. Cahoon scored a game-high 16 points and hauled down a dozen rebounds and Chapman tossed in 11 points and finished with 12 steals.

“Their 1-3-1 is aggressive,” Lake Placid coach Brian Van Nostrand said. “Their defense really got to us. We were able to do things at times, but over the course of the game, the wear and tear got to us. In the first half, we were able to get it down to two, and then all of a sudden, they’d extend the lead to four, to six. And in the second half, we had it down to nine a few times, and then they’d string together a few mini runs and that kind of deflated us at times.

Matt Brandes of Lake Placid swats an attempted shot by Chazy’s Bryan McAfee out of bounds during Tuesday’s game. (Enterprise photo — Lou Reuter)

“We could have taken care of the basketball better, but honestly, our kids battled and some things didn’t go our way,” Van Nostrand added. “There were a few times where we’d get inside and miss the layup.”

Chazy led 11-9 after one quarter and pushed the edge to 25-16 at the half. The Eagles opened the third quarter with a 4-0 run to lead by double digits for the first time, but Lake Placid stayed within striking distance during the period until until Ben Norcross drained a 3-pointer late in the period for a 12-point Eagles edge to put his team on top 36-24. From there, Chazy gradually pulled away. The Eagles biggest lead of the game was a 21-point advantage came with about three minutes left on the clock.

Jarell Paul led Lake Placid in scoring with 11 points and Stetson Craig chipped in 10.

The Eagles made 21 trips to the free throw line and sank 14 of their attempts. The Blue Bombers went 6-for-12 from the stripe.

Entering his first season as Chazy’s coach, Sherman knew he had athletes who are accustomed to winning on the soccer field, and his job his to help them become basketball players.

“At the beginning of the year, I knew I was coming into a 1-16 team, but I also knew I was coming to Chazy Central School,” Sherman said. “They’re dominant in soccer, they win state championships almost every year. Being a coach, all you can ask for is athletes and kids who play hard. I knew we had that. My job as a basketball is to teach the team, develop the skill.

“What I can’t control is the players’ mindsets, and I didn’t have to worry about that,” he continued. “I’m a firm believer that defense wins games, wins championships, and we’ve preached that from day one. They’ve been doing a great job playing hard, playing together.”

Tuesday’s matchup marked a run of four games in five days for Lake Placid. The Blue Bombers are back in action at home again tonight against Westport with the opening tipoff slated for 7:30 p.m.

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Chazy 50, Lake Placid 31

Eagles 11 14 11 14 — 50

Blue Bombers 9 7 8 7 — 31

Chazy (50)

Norcross 3-0-7, Cahoon- 6-4-16,McAfee-0-1-1, Chapman-2-7-11, Panetta-1-0-2, Juneau-1-0-3, Huchro-4-1-9, Morse-0-1-1. Totals: 17-14-50.

Lake Placid (31)

Paul 5-1-11, Briggs 0-0-0, Craig 4-1-10, Novik 0-4-4, Brown 1-0-2, Izzo 2-0-4, M. Brandes 0-0-0, C. Brandes 0-0-0, Perry 0-0-0. Totals: 12-6-31.

Three-point goals: Chazy (2), Norcross, Juneau. Lake Placid (1), Craig.