Only at the last hurdle did the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team get denied in a quest to complete an undefeated regular season.
The 17-0, state Class A no. 6-ranked Red Rams ran into a red-hot Christian Brothers Academy Friday night, watching the Brothers hit close to everything in the first half and prevail by a score of 62-50.
In the boys game that immediately followed, Dajuan Coleman, Tyler Cavanaugh and Jafar Kinsey built a big early lead for J-D as it handled CBA 68-59 and earned yet another regular-season sweep in this neighborhood rivalry.
On its way to those 17 straight wins, the J-D girls passed a big hurdle when it first met CBA on Jan. 20, prevailing 59-49 despite the Brothers’ Kelsey Johnson scoring 24 second-half points.
So it was not surprising to see CBA go right back to Johnson in the early stages of the rematch, and the senior forward scored her team’s first six points on the way to an 8-0 start.
Safe to say, the Brothers could not have played better in the first half – and J-D could not have played worse.
Every part of CBA’s attack clicked against the Rams’ normally formidable defense. Johnson and Marisa Romeo both hit double figures – Johnson with 10 points, Romeo with 11 points. Not only that, but Julie Cuomo came off the bench to get eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers late in the second quarter.
At one point, CBA held an astonishing 37-15 edge, and went to the half in front 37-18. To put that in perspective, J-D didn’t allow 37 points for the entire game in 10 of its 17 wins.
For the Rams, the entire second half was spent trying to climb back into the contest. Every time it made a small threat, though, CBA would counter with a timely outside shot and reestablish control.
Johnson finished with 18 points and eight rebounds before fouling out, while Romeo had 19 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. Cuomo contributed 12 points. For J-D, who played without key reserve Arriell Mussi, yleigh Cavanaugh led with 17 points, with Lauren Beville adding 10 points and Cydney Goodrum managing nine points.
With the CBA girls win in the books, now the boys Brothers took its latest shot at J-D, a day after it was announced that Coleman would play in the McDonald’s All-American game late in Chicago, one of just 24 seniors in the country named to that elite event.
Coleman celebrated with a first half against CBA that included four different dunks and 11 points overall. Cavanaugh fueled J-D’s quick start with eight first-quarter points, including a driving slam of his own, and Kinsey added nine of his 13 points in the second period.
All of this helped the Rams amass a 41-19 halftime edge. The margin got as big as 49-23 midway through the third period, and from there J-D cruised, even though the Brothers made a frantic late comeback when the starters went to the bench.
Overall, Coleman managed 23 points, displaying his shooting touch with a pair of outside jumpers in the fourth quarter, while Cavanaugh had 22 points. CBA had 11 different players score, with Charlie Russo (12 points) and Dylan Haines (11 points) leading the way.
All the tune-ups went according to script. J-D’s girls made it 17-0 last Monday when it went to Phoenix and had one of its best offensive efforts of the season in a 65-31 romp of the Firebirds.
What was an 11-11 tie changed in the second quarter, when the Red Rams outscored Phoenix 18-6. Along the way, J-D hit 10 3-pointers.
Four players scored in double figures, led again by Cavanaugh, who had 17 points. Katie Maroney earned 12 points while Mussi also had 12 points. Stephanie Mannion added 11 points as she hit a trio of 3-pointers, with Mussi, Maroney and Cavnaugh hitting two apiece.
Then the J-D boys flattened Phoenix 85-31 on Tuesday night as Coleman, with 23 points, led the way. Kinsey produced 14 points, with Cavanaugh adding 13 points.
Meanwhile, both of CBA’s teams defeated Fulton. In the boys’ 65-48 conquest of the Red Raiders, the Brothers steadily built its margin throughout the night as Russo hit five 3-pointers, accounting for most of his 19 points.
Haines worked inside for 14 points, while Kevin Bailey had 11 points. Jack Pfohl and Cam MacPherson had eight points apiece.
When the CBA girls took out Fulton 57-44, it took charge with a 20-10 romp through the second quarter, Romeo, with 17 points, again led the way, with Johnson adding 12 points. Julie Cuomo hit double figures with 11 points and Michelle Wiese contributed 10 points.
Then the Brothers beat Mexico by a nearly identical score, 57-39, in the make-up of a Jan. 13 snow postponement, outscoring the Tigers 23-7 in the opening period and leading 39-13 by halftime. Romeo had 20 points, with Johnson (13 points) and Olivia Pitonzo (10 points) close behind.
Both of J-D’s teams have top seeds in Class A and will play quarterfinals on Friday night, the girls meeting Whitesboro and the boys getting Whitesboro or Oneida.
CBA, meanwhile, is the no. 8 seed in Class AA boys play, hosting Corcoran in the opening round Tuesday to see who gets a shot at top seed Utica Proctor, while the girls, with the no. 4 seed, host no. 5 seed Liverpool in Thursday’s AA quarterfinal.
