For now, the Jamesville-DeWitt and Christian Brothers Academy girls basketball teams were done with each other, the Red Rams having won both regular-season meetings on Dec. 18 and Jan. 9, and the Brothers hoping one more encounter in the Section III Class A playoffs remained.

Games went on, though, and J-D, who rose back to no. 4 in the latest state Class A rankings, hosted East Syracuse Minoa last Tuesday night and had no trouble with the Spartans, getting off to a near-perfect start and ultimately winning by a 65-24 margin.

During the first quarter, ESM nearly got shut out and J-D built up a 21-2 edge. By halftime, the margin was 36-6, and the Rams didn’t let up until it had managed to see all 11 players on its roster earn at least one field goal.

Julia Kelner, with 14 points, set the pace, but Meg Hair (12 points) and Jamie Boeheim (10 points) were close behind. Carly O’Hern got seven points and MaryKate Scheftic had six points as, for ESM, Brigid McGinley had eight points, but no one else had more than two field goals.

Meanwhile, CBA, no. 16 in those same state Class A rankings, hosted Cortland and played some of its best defense of the season, shutting down the Purple Tigers for long stretches of the game and claiming a 50-25 victory.

Right from the start, the Brothers’ pressure proved effective, as Cortland had just four points in the first quarter. And CBA maintained that standard, eventually going on an 18-5 tear through the third quarter to snuff out any chance the Purple Tigers may have possessed, holding its top players, Shea Swartout, to just six points all night.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, Rosalee Winderl produced 17 points, adding three rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Kate Lacasse stepped up with 12 points, while Paige Nicholson had nine points. Natalie Nardella gathered up six points, six rebounds, five blocks, three assists and two steals.

This was very different than what took place Friday night, as CBA met state Class A no. 11-ranked Whitesboro and appeared to have the game in hand – only to see it slip away in the final minutes of a painful 48-46 defeat to the Warriors.

The Brothers started quite well, leading 17-8 after one period, only to slump in the next two periods as Whitesboro caught up and took a 31-29 lead. But in the fourth quarter, CBA got hot again, reclaiming the lead as Nicholson poured in16 points, including four 3-pointers, while Nardella got all of her nine points from three 3-pointers.

Yet Whitesboro made one last comeback, tying it, 46-46, on clutch 3-pointers by Jessica Sardina and Gianna Gotte. Then, with seven seconds left and the score tied, 46-46, Allie Belmont, who led her team with 17 points, hit two free throws, and CBA could not answer with a tying or winning basket, suffering a second narrow defeat to the Warriors to go with the 46-45 loss it took in early December.

Starkly contrasting this effort was J-D’s 65-16 romp over Chittenango, where it led 38-5 at halftime and got all 11 players on its roster to contribute three or more points. Julia Fairbanks led with 14 points, while Hair had nine points. Senior Maddie Behan had eight point s and Kelner finished with seven points.

Also on Friday, ESM lost, 64-53, to Phoenix, seeing an early lead vanish when the Firebirds outscored them 24-15 in a wild second quarter. From there, the Spartans could not quite answer, though Olivia McEachron earned 16 points and McGinley had 12 points. Loren Clifford added eight points and Athena Thomason six points as Samantha Doupe (19 points, seven assists) and Shannon Dolan (12 points) led Phoenix’s efforts.

Bishop Grimes returned to action Thursday night, at Skaneateles, and was in trouble for most of the night before strong defense fueled a second-half comeback that led to a tough 45-41 victory over the Lakers.

These teams had met in the Nov. 24 season opener and Grimes had won, 49-38. One difference now was that Grimes didn’t have its top player, Azariah Wade, at 100 percent, with Wade battling an ankle injury.

Taking full advantage, the Skaneateles defense did a terrific job in the first half, containing Grimes in every manner while it built up a 28-17 margin. Yet when the third quarter started, it was Skaneateles who slumped, held to just three points in those eight minutes by the Cobras’ pressure.

Given new life, Grimes made up most of the margin and only trailed by one, 31-30, going to the fourth quarter, where it claimed the lead and held on. Wade still had eight points in her limited capacity, but her teammates helped out, led by fellow sophomore Brianna Squier, who got 12 points as Abby Wilkinson added eight points and Katy McInerney seven points. Shannon Foehl, helped by three 3-pointers, earned 16 points overall to lead Skaneateles.

Improving to 9-4 with that win, Grimes has three games this week, meeting Jordan-Elbridge and ITC/Fowler before a Saturday trip to Indian River.