Sometimes, where a team is seeded matters plenty in an event such as the Section III girls basketball playoffs, and sometimes it does not. Jamesville-DeWitt is a clear example of the latter.
Though it had the no. 4 seed heading into the Class A sectional tournament, the Red Rams’ status as three-time defending champions, plus the experience of going to the state title game in 2014, made it the team to beat, no matter what number it held in the bracket.
And when J-D is at its best, it can just overwhelm the opposition– as top-seeded Indian River found out, in a big way, during Saturday night’s Class A semifinal at SRC Arena, a game that was close until the Rams took over in the second half and shut down the Warriors on the way to a 55-33 victory.
For years, J-D’s strong point has been an ability to take over on the defensive side. The challenge 19-1 Indian River (whose lone regular-season defeat came to Rome Free Academy) provided was offering a choice of what to go after – either the inside game of Kammika Barnes, or a perimeter attack centered around Sarah Mattingly, the school’s all-time leader in 3-point field goals.
With answers to both of these questions, the Rams rolled at the outset, racing to an 11-1 lead. At first, IR handled this challenge well, making it all the way back and even taking the lead in the second quarter.
And that didn’t sit well with J-D, who only led by one, 20-19, at the half, but then returned from the locker room and unleashed all of its considerable forces on the Warriors.
Defensive pressure led to turnovers, and the Rams converted those takeaways into a string of baskets during an 18-2 domination of the third quarter that put IR away.
On the offensive end, J-D again showed its balance. Alyssa Robens led the way with 13 points, but Meg Hair, with 12 points, was close behind, while Carly O’Hern contributed eight points. Julia Kelner came off the bench to score seven points, matching Maddy Frank’s total. On IR’s side, only Barnes, with 12 points, reached double figures, with Mattingly held to five points.
The win will bring the Rams (17-5) back to SRC Arena this Saturday at 4:30 for a familiar sectional Class A final against no. 3 seed Whitesboro, who took out no. 2 seed Camden 41-24 in the other semifinal after early-round playoff wins over Fulton and Carthage.
Led by 1,000-point scorer Maria Lapertosa, the Warriors, who also have a 17-5 record, are trying to avenge defeats to J-D in both the 2013 and 2014 sectional title games at the Carrier Dome.
