Three girls basketball teams from East Syracuse Minoa, Christian Brothers Academy and Jamesville-DeWitt all entered the Section III Class A playoffs on Tuesday night – and all of them won.
The no. 7 seed Spartans upended no. 10 seed Utica-Notre Dame 51-49, while the no. 9 seed Brothers avenged a regular-season defeat to no. 8 seed Marcellus in a 52-29 romp and the no. 4 seed Red Rams, starting a quest for a fourth straight sectional title, topped no. 13 seed Oneida 49-29.
Of the three victories, ESM’s carried the most weight. Utica-Notre Dame had won the state Class B championship a year ago before moving up to Class A this winter, and though Emily Durr, who surpassed Breanna Stewart as Section III’s all-time leading scorer, had left for Iowa State, the Jugglers were still a tough, battle-tested squad that expected to upend the Spartans.
But ESM wasn’t fazed one bit. Instead, it built upon the inside-outside combination of Sydni Eure and Ashley Scalzo to get out in front, steadily gaining a 28-24 halftime edge and then more than doubling that margin during the third quarter.
Up by double digits, 41-31, going to the final period, ESM had to hang on as the Jugglers made a 7-0 run to make it 41-38. The Spartans countered, but UND pulled back within four, 45-41, on Claire Sehring’s free throw with 2:44 left.
The Jugglers got the ball back seconds later, looking to move within a single basket. Instead, Eure made the game’s biggest play, forcing a steal and going the other way for a lay-up to create a six-point margin, 47-41, one was that enough to withstand UND’s late charge.
Eure had a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Scalzo balanced it out with 12 points, plus three rebounds, as Haley Wise added seven points and Athena Thomason had six points. Wise and Thomason both grabbed five rebounds and Cindy Brownson had seven rebounds. Sehring, with 15 points, and Anari Harris, with 13 points, paced the UND attack.
Up at Marcellus, CBA remembered that, on Jan. 6, Marcellus had walked onto the Brothers’ home court and walked out with a 48-45 victory, and was bent on preventing a similar outcome.
Much of this game revolved around the work of CBA’s defense. It swarmed, pressured and never let the Mustangs get comfortable, something that would take an eventual toll.
In a decisive third quarter, the Brothers, who were up 21-17 at the half, outscored Marcellus 17-5, and went on to earn a third shot at top seed Indian River in the sectional quarterfinals.
CBA got 18 points from Rosalee Winderl, 12 points from Julie Cuomo and nine points from Natalie Nardella. Other than Erica Balman, who had 14 points, six rebound and five blocks, no other Marcellus player made more than one field goal.
Next to these games, J-D’s effort was more subdued and workmanlike, but it still pulled away from Oneida after a sluggish start where it only managed eight points in the first quarter.
The spark came from MaryKate Scheftic, whose five points late in the second period helped the Red Rams gain a cushion against the Indians and lead, 23-15, at the half. J-D then went on a long run in the third quarter, extending its margin to 15, ultimately out of Oneida’s reach.
Alyssa Robens led the Rams with 11 points, five of them free throws. Maddy Frank had nine points, while Kasey Vaughan got seven points. Jennifer Brodock led Oneida with 10 points.
This leads to a trio of Class A quarterfinals on Friday night. J-D is at home, facing no. 5 seed Oswego, while ESM visits no. 2 seed Camden and CBA heads north, trying to avenge two regular-season losses to top seed Indian rIver.
