Going after a fourth state Class B championship in six years, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys lacrosse team first had to handle neighborhood business in the Section III Class B playoffs.
The Red Rams, with the top seed in the Class B tournament, went after no. 5 seed East Syracuse-Minoa in Saturday night’s Class B semifinal at Central Square, easily handling the Spartans 20-3.
This was the third meeting between J-D and ESM this spring. They had just played each other two weeks earlier, on May 12, and the Rams took that game 16-5.
After the regular-season finale on May 15, the Rams had 10 days to rest and recuperate for the playoffs. Aside from the normal practices, J-D also scrimmaged Liverpool, who would make its way back to the sectional Class A finals once the playoffs got underway.
Not until Saturday night did the Rams return, meeting an ESM side that had fought off Oswego 7-6 in the opening round three days earlier.
Refreshed, the Rams quickly seized control as it blazed to a 7-1 lead by the end of the first quarter. And the charge continued the rest of the half, J-D not letting up until it had a 13-1 halftime edge. And it was 18-1 before the Rams finally allowed another goal, in the fourth quarter, long after the starters had left.
Five different J-D players had hat tricks, all of them aided by Jordan Evans, named a high school All-American earlier this week, who finished with five assists to go with his pair of goals.
Deke Burns, another All-American honoree, had four goals and one assist, while McLaren Brady, Mike Perkins, Lucas Johnson and Ryan Wright each scored three times. Adam Goss and MIke Engstrom added single goals as Griffin Feiner, Ali Akyuz, Jeff Edwards, Justin Diamond and Nick Wright picked up assists.
ESM, whose season ended with a record of 11-7, saw Patrick Bryant, Brian Kiehl and Dan MacDougall earn goals, with Corey Haynes adding an assist. Goalies Alec Miller and D.J. MacCombie combined to make 20 saves.
In Wednesday’s Section III Class B final at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, J-D will meet a familiar opponent, Carthage. The no. 3 seed Comets beat no. 2 seed Watertown 9-4 in the other semifinal.
