Back in high gear after its last-second win at Bishop Ludden on Jan. 5, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys basketball team would pass some more big tests from inside and outside the Class A ranks, where it has the no. 5 ranking in the last state poll.
In all, the Red Rams would win three times in five games, as Brandon Triche scored 92 combined points, passed a career milestone, and moved a little bit closer to full recovery from the torn ACL he suffered more than a year ago.
Traveling to Syracuse’s West Side to face 6-2 Fowler last Tuesday night, the Red Rams, without Mickey Davis or Alshwan Hymes in the lineup, found its shooting touch in a big way and breezed past the Falcons 75-58.
Much of the damage was rendered in the first half. Every time Triche or Greg Stern was left open on the perimeter, they seemed to convert, a barrage of 3-point field goals that led to a 49-25 advantage at the break — nearly as many points as J-D got in a full game at Ludden.
Fowler would improve in the second half, but the damage had already been rendered. Triche would finish with 27 points and a trio of treys, with Stern adding a season-best 20 points that included four of his 3-point specialties. Nick Pascale added seven points. Ron Monroe led Fowler with 15 points.
In the first of back-to-back weekend tests, Triche again seized the spotlight in an otherwise one-sided affair where the Red Rams routed Fulton 78-30.
By going on a 17-2 second-quarter run and leading 44-14 by halftime, the Rams decided the outcome early, then kept Triche out there long enough to treat the home folks to a special moment.
In all, the J-D junior had 26 points — putting him past 1,000 points for a varsity career that began with an eighth-grade call-up during the 2005 Section III Class A playoffs.
Other than that, the starters rested as much as possible in this one-sided affair, though Pascale still had 11 points, Stern earned nine points and Marcus Williams stepped up for 12 points.
Just 24 hours later, at LeMoyne College, J-D ran up against Class AA foe Cicero-North Syracuse in the nightcap of the 10th annual Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge.
Here, Triche made the entire difference in the outcome, enjoying his most productive night since the knee injury to carry the Red Rams past the Northstars 65-50.
Though it led all the way, J-D found itself on even terms with CNS for much of the first three quarters. Every time the Rams made a run, the Northstars would answer and creep closer.
Late in the third period, J-D led by a field goal, 38-36, but a Davis 3-pointer launched a 17-5 run that stretched into the fourth quarter and proved to be decisive.
Triche did the rest. Either he drove to the lane and scored, pulled up and hit the occasional jumper, or got hacked, allowing him to sink free throws.
Add it all up, and Triche would have 36 points, including 18 consecutive points down the stretch. Triche took 14 free throws and made them all.
Only Davis, with 12 p0ints, offered any kind of supporting role, as Mike McCarthy (12 points) and Laquan James (11 points) led the CNS push.
J-D (13-2) will host Bishop Ludden Friday night, its second meeting with the Gaelic Knights in 14 days, which follows a Tuesday visit to Mexico.
