What is becoming increasingly apparent is that the Jamesville-DeWitt boys basketball team has many different methods to put an opponent away.
One of those methods was on vivid display in last Saturday’s 79-57 romp over West Genesee in the Brooklyn Pickle Classic at Henninger High School.
By now, J-D’s foes have come to expect sophomore superstar Brandon Triche to pour in more than 20 points, and aren’t scared of that prospect, as long as they can shut down Triche’s teammates.
Sensing that, Triche took a different approach in the West Genesee game. He would do his normal bit of driving to the net, but then make a conscious effort to find open teammates at all times for easier baskets.
All through the contest, this worked to perfection. Any time Triche drew defenders toward him, he simply flipped it to someone else, and often the result was two points.
By game’s end, Triche had piled up 15 assists, an astonishing number at any level of basketball, so his season-low total of 11points did not matter one bit.
Leading from the start, J-D really started to take charge after Sam Cieplicki’s 3-pointer beat the first-half buzzer to make it 42-31. Steadily, the lead nearly doubled, to 66-45, by the end of the third quarter, and WG could not do anything about it.
Triche’s generosity allowed four other Rams to reach double figures. Fellow sophomore Alshwan Hymes continued to be a force off the bench, pouring in 19 points, while Mickey Davis had 18 points. Nick Pascale got 11 points and Greg Stern contributed 10 points.
And all this came just 24 hours after J-D (playing without Hymes) went to Cortland and breezed to a 65-54 win over the Purple Tigers.
It really wasn’t that close, as the Rams compiled a 55-29 advantage through three quarters before head coach Bob McKenney began resting his starters for the West Genesee game a day later.
In his abbreviated time on the court, Triche poured in 27 points, while Davis, with 12 points, was the only other J-D player in double figures.
The Red Rams again proved to be too much for a league foe last Tuesday night, tossing 2-0 Fulton around in an 80-36 destruction of the Red Raiders.
J-D settled matters quickly, going up 24-6 by the end of the first quarter, leading 67-29 after three periods and having 13 players on the roster get at least one point.
In the front of that line, Triche and Hymes each had 14 points, with Davis adding 13 points. Stern (eight points) and Pascale (seven points) made modest contributions.
After the Rams play Phoenix on Friday night, the spotlight will only get bigger. J-D will go to Manley Field House for Sunday’s highly-anticipated HoopHall Classic, a gathering of eight national high school powers that will include all of the seniors signed to play at Syracuse University next season.
And in the featured final game at 5:30, J-D will clash with Niagara Falls, state Class AA champions in 2005 and a participant in last year’s final four, too. All eyes will be on Triche and Jonny Flynn, the 5-11 Niagara Falls point guard heading to SU.
