One Jamesville-DeWitt basketball team is undefeated. The other is in its usual spot atop the state Class A rankings.
And both got to deliver victories over rival Christian Brothers Academy to the home fans on Friday night, as the girls Red Rams used improved outside shooting to gain its 12th straight win, 59-49, and the boys relied on old and new stars to pull away from the Brothers 69-47.
Ever since CBA joined the Onondaga High School League’s Freedom division, the girls-boys varsity doubleheaders against J-D have turned into an annual rite, and again an overflow crowd packed the Rams’ home gym for the latest edition.
For the J-D girls, who had pulled out several low-scoring affairs to keep itself unbeaten, the night provided a chance to atone for two defeats to CBA last winter.
But the start was uneven for both sides, as the Rams’ vaunted defense held the Brothers without a point for the first five minutes of the game, yet still trailed 8-7 at the end of the frame.
Down 12-10 midway through the second period, J-D turned the game in its favor with a 10-2 run to close the half, capped by Cydney Goodrum hitting on three free throws and Stephanie Mannion sinking a 3-pointer, making it 21-14 at the break.
Mannion wasn’t done, connecting twice more beyond the arc early in the third quarter as J-D stretched out the lead to 34-22. Even when CBA pushed back within 34-27, the Rams got back-to-back baskets from Ariell Mussi to make it 38-27 going to the final period.
Once there, Kelsey Johnson did everything possible to keep CBA close. Of her 26 points, 22 of them came in the second half, while Marisa Romeo put up 15 points before fouling out.
Still, J-D never saw the margin get closer than seven the rest of the way, and were more balanced on the offensive side. Goodrum led with 16 points, while Mannion (11 points) and Kayleigh Cavanaugh (10 points) also reached double figures. Mussi had seven points and Katie Maroney added six points.
Once that was done, it was the boys turn, and everyone knew how CBA was going to try and contain J-D – namely, by using as much of the 35-second shot clock as possible on the offensive end and, defensively, minimizing the damage from Dajuan Coleman and Tyler Cavanaugh.
The Rams quickly thwarted those plans, holding CBA to five points in the first quarter and capping the period with Coleman’s first dunk of the night. The Syracuse University-bound senior added two more thunderous slams in the second period on his way to 14 first-half points and 22 points overall.
Yet it was sophomore Jafar Kinsey that supplied the critical blows. With his team only up by five, Kinsey sank a 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the half, making it 29-21 at the break, and tacked on seven more points in the early stages of the third quarter as part of a decisive 25-6 outburst.
Overall, Kinsey had 12 points, while Cavanaugh weighed in with 19 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Dylan Haines led CBA with 16 points, but his team fell to 6-6 on the season as J-D improved to 10-2.
