Not only is the Jamesville-DeWitt boys lacrosse team still unbeaten, and still the state’s top-ranked Class B team, it’s still playing – the only one in Section III who still has a chance to win a state championship.
While Skaneateles and West Genesee both saw their seasons end in the regional finals, the Red Rams kept on rolling with a 17-3 victory over Section IV champion Corning West Tuesday afternoon at Union-Endicott High School.
This marks the last season of Corning West lacrosse, as it is merging with crosstime rival Corning East for the 2010-11 school year. Before that, though, the Vikings claimed one more sectional title and then tried to derail J-D’s quest for a second state championship in four years.
For a brief while, the Rams allowed Corning West to hang around, only leading 3-2 after one period. But that’s where the suspense ended.
In the 12 minutes prior to halftime, J-D attacked at will, using Tim Edwards’ domination of face-offs to set up seven goals that stretched the margin to 10-3.
Not content with that, the Rams’ defense shut out the Vikings in the second half, while seven more goals went on the board, five of them in the third period.
Ten different J-D players earned goals before it was done. Joe Shepard led the way, scoring four times and adding an assist, while Rob Elbers continued to step up with three goals and one assist.
Edwards and Peter Goss each had two goals and one assist, with Cam Stone picking up a goal and two assists. Cam Stone, Deke Burns, Drew Wanamaker, Jordan Evans, Alex Hatem and McLaren Brady also got goals, with Stone and Ed Kiesa each earning a pair of assists.
Now J-D returns to Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium to face Irondequoit (Section V) in Thursday’s state semifinals. The winner goes to Stony Brook University on Long Island for Saturday’s championship game against Niskayuna or Garden City.