By now, it’s official that the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team is held to quite a high standard. Back-to-back trips to the state Class A championship game will create those expectations.
Thus, any Red Rams performance is critiqued in a different way, and last Wednesday night’s 57-34 victory over Oswego offers proof, as an otherwise solid performance had plenty to pick apart.
All through the first half, J-D was uneven in its performance, from turnovers to missed free throws. That allowed the Buccaneers a chance to stay within single digits and only trail, 31-20, going to halftime.
At the same time, though, the Rams hinted at its potential dominance, gaining an comfortable lead despite modest contributions from the likes of Carly O’Hern, who had just three points all night.
Instead, it was Kasey Vaughan hitting on three 3-pointers in the first quarter to push J-D out in front, and it was the Rams’ defense, as a whole, picking up its tempo in the third quarter, where it held Oswego without a point for nearly four minutes in order to get away and build a 43-24 lead.
Vaughan didn’t score a point after that opening-period barrage, but she didn’t have to. Meg Hair led with 11 points, while Angela Bussone and Jamie Boeheim had eight points apiece and Julia Kelner added seven points. Even more encouraging, all nine J-D players that saw significiant minutes earned at least one field goal.
One of the many foes J-D has brushed aside during its Class A conquests is Christian Brothers Academy, though a season ago the Brothers fell to Indian River in the sectional quarterfinals before getting its shot at the Red Rams in the semifinal round.
To put it midly, the Brothers had an interesting opening week where it went from despair to delight in short order.
CBA began last Tuesday with a narrow 46-45 defeat to Whitesboro, whom J-D had already beaten on Nov. 27. And this happened despite great starts to each half by the Brothers, who were up 16-8 through one period and held the Warriors to four points in the third quarter to grab a 37-27 edge.
Down the stretch, though, Whitesboro took over, managing to outscore CBA 19-8 in the fourth quarter to pull it out as Lauren Lapertosa, who finished with 15 points, and Katie Belmont, who had 13 points, led the rally.
By contrast, no Brothers player scored in double figures, though Rosalee Winderl, with nine points, came close. Nafysa Williams had 12 rebounds to go with her eight points as Olivia Carni also had eight points. Kate Lacasse had six points and six rebounds.
This was not what CBA wanted going into Friday’s game at Bishop Ludden, but the pain of the Whitesboro defeat, combined with the inherent intensity of the “Holy War”, produced a near-perfect start for the Brothers, and this time it hung on to win, beating the Gaelic Knights 51-46.
Everything went well for CBA in the early going. Not only did it make a series of defensive stops, it translated them into baskets on the other end, not letting up until it had picked up a 20-2 lead on Ludden by the second quarter, stunning the Gaelic Knights’ home crowd.
CBA did enough in the middle stages, too, to take a 41-25 advantage to the fourth quarter, where Ludden, led by Danielle Rauch (16 points, 10 rebounds, five steals, four assists, three blocks) and Laura Patulski (14 points, seven rebounds), charged, but it proved too late.
Winderl and Natalie Nardella paced the Brothers with 12 points apiece. Williams continued to do well in the paint, finishing with 10 points, while Paige Nicholson earned seven points and Claire Pierret got five points.
