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Beavers top Lake Placid boys hoops

Lake Placid’s Jarrett Mihill, center, shoots over Keene’s Soren Jacobsen (33) and Van Morrelli (23) during Wednesday’s home game. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

LAKE PLACID — For most of Wednesday’s contest, the Lake Placid boys basketball team hung around with the state-ranked Keene Beavers. But in the end, the Blue Bombers weren’t able to pull off the upset, suffering a 61-53 loss to the Beavers on Wednesday.

Seb Cecunjanin paced Lake Placid with 22 points, including three 3-pointers. Owen Hayes also had a solid night offensively, recording 14 points — 12 of which came from beyond the 3-point line. Talon Jordon contributed with 12 points, while Jarrett Mihill had five.

“(Cecunjanin) had a great night,” Blue Bombers head coach Brian Brandes said. “Owen came alive, he had a couple of 3’s there down at the end when we needed them.”

Keene’s Vann Morrelli led all scorers with 23 points. Asa Sprague and Peter Robjent contributed with double figures as well. Sprague had 17 and Robjent had 12. Soren Jacobsen chipped in with seven points and Brayden Harmer had two for the Beavers.

For Keene, which ranks 18th in the state for Class D boys basketball, according to the New York State Sportswriters Association, the win marked a season sweep over the Blue Bombers. The Beavers won 54-30 on their home court on Feb. 5. Wednesday’s win improved the team’s overall record to 13-5, while Lake Placid dropped to 5-13.

Keene’s Peter Robjent drives to the basket during Wednesday’s game in Lake Placid. (Enterprise photo — Parker O’Brien)

The Blue Bombers controlled the game early on Wednesday, jumping out to a 7-2 lead. The Beavers turned things around quickly with a 19-2 run of their own that extended into the second quarter.

“But we were able to stop that run and come back with a couple of 3’s over our own and bring it back,” Brandes said. “I thought our guys did phenomenal. I was very happy with their effort and their defense. Most of the time when it counted, they came up with a score.”

While trailing by 12, Lake Placid rallied back with a 13-8 run, which included a 3-pointer from Cecunjanin with 6 seconds left in the first half, to bring the score to 29-22 heading into the intermission.

In the first couple of minutes of the third quarter, the Blue Bombers brought the score within four points, but Keene was able to rally late in the quarter thanks to some solid shooting from Sprague and Morrelli. The duo combined for 11 points during that stretch to push their team’s lead to 44-34.

Lake Placid outscored Keene 19-17 in the final quarter due to some solid shooting from Hayes, which inclued three 3-pointers.

“It seemed like they were starting to pull away, Owen would hit a 3 and give us some life,” Brandes said. “It was that light at the end of the tunnel.”

Lake Placid was slated to wrap up the regular season on Thursday against the Bolton Eagles. The Beavers will close out the regular season on the road today against the Crown Point Panthers.

Keene 61, Lake Placid 53

Beavers 15 14 15 17 — 61

Blue Bombers 9 13 12 19 — 53

Keene (61)

Sprague 7-1-17, Harmer 1-0-2, Isham 0-0-0, Lopez 0-0-0, Robjent 5-0-12, Morrelli 9-4-23, Smith 0-0-0, Jacobsen 3-1-7. Totals: 25-6-61.

Lake Placid (53)

Cecunjanin 8-3-22, Hayes 5-0-14, Mihill 2-1-5, Wylie 0-0-0, Kondrat 0-0-0, Kissel 0-0-0, Colby 0-0-0, Lawrence 0-0-0, Jordon 6-0-12. Totals: 21-4-53.

3-point goals: Lake Placid (7) Hayes 4, Cecunjanin 3. Keene (5) Sprague 2, Robjent 2, Morrelli.

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