For the most part, defense is the main reason the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team has strung together a run of Section III and regional Class A titles. So it’s little surprise that defense was the main reason why the Red Rams have earned a second consecutive appearance in the state championship game.
In Friday afternoon’s state semifinal against Section I champion Albertus Magnus at Troy’s Hudson Valley Community College, the Red Rams blew open a close contest in the third quarter by forcing a string of turnovers, and went on to beat the Falcons 56-33.
This brings J-D back to the state final, where it lost to Pittsford Sutherland one year ago. This time, the Rams’ opponent is Williamsville South, a Section VI team from the Buffalo suburbs, who beat Long Island champion North Shore 73-69 in the other semifinal.
Albertus Magnus arrived at Troy with a perfect 25-0 record and the no. 1 spot in the state rankings. But J-D not only had the experience of last year’s run to the state final going for them, it also had familiarity with HVCC, thanks to 2014 and its sweep of the regional round a week earlier.
And just like it did against Section II champion Averill Park in the March 13 regional opener, the Rams imposed its will on Albertus Magnus on both sides of the ball.
Key 3-point shots from Carly O’Hern and Meg Hair got J-D going, allowing it to trade baskets with the Falcons throughout a 15-15 first quarter. During the second period, though, the Rams began to seize control, pushed there by Alyssa Robens and her nine first-half points.
Ironically, though, it was a mistake at the end of the half that may have fueled J-D’s takeover. Up 28-20, and with the ball, the Rams committed a turnover, the Falcons’ Dani LaRochelle stealing it and getting a basket just before the horn that made it 28-22 going into the break.
Angry at this misstep, the Rams channeled that energy into a second half that was close to perfect, especially when it came to making Albertus Magnus quite uncomfortable any time it had the ball.
Everyone in J-D’s rotation, from O’Hair, Robens and Hair to Angela Bussone and Maddy Frank, hounded the Falcons’ ball-handlers, and for the last six minutes, 50 seconds of the third quarter, Albertus Magnus did not score a single point, turning the ball over on seven consecutive possessions.
During that time, the Rams built up a 42-24 lead, and didn’t stop there, continuing the full-court effort deep into the fourth quarter, the lead reading 51-27 at one point. From Hair and Frank crashing the boards to a perimeter defense that held Albertus Magnus to two 3-pointers in 20 attempts, everything fell into place.
Hair would finish with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Robens got 13 points and O’Hern 12 points. Frank added six points, but made a bigger impact with her 13 rebounds. For the Falcons, only Madison McGrath, with 13 points, scored in double figures.
J-D added a particularly sweet exclamation point after the starters went to the bench in the final minute. Jamie Boeheim, taunted by the Albertus Magnus students, hit a 3-pointer just before the horn, J-D making its way, again, to the brink of a first-ever state championship.
