Everyone within the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball program understands the task at hand.
First, there’s the matter of claiming another Section III Class A title as those playoffs get underway late this week. Then, if successful there, it’s on to the more elusive goal of a state championship, which the Red Rams got within a single victory of attaining each of the last two seasons.
With more pressure to get it done, and with the spotlight inevitably gained by having the top spot in the state rankings, J-D made a big statement when it won the Mecca Tournament in New York City on Jan. 29-30, but it didn’t let up once it got back to Central New York.
In last Tuesday night’s visit to Mexico, the Rams bashed the Tigers 65-20, starting the game with a 22-2 first-quarter outburst and continuing to pull further away from there.
All nine players that saw action earned at least one field goal, though Julia Kelner led the way with 16 points. Carly O’Hern and Julia Fairbanks had 12 points apiece, while Maddy Behan stepped up for eight points. J-D dominated despite getting just two points from its top scorer, Meg Hair.
Back home Friday night to face Fulton, the Red Rams ripped the Red Raiders 78-24, removing all doubt during a first half where, on both sides of the floor, it did whatever it wanted and succeeded at it, eventually gaining a 40-7 edge.
That margin got to 61-14 by the end of the third quarter, a game where, again, every J-D player (11, in this case) recorded at least one field goal. O’Hern was joined by Kasey Vaughan, each of them earning 13 points as Kelner added 12 points. Hair and Jamie Boeheim had eight points apiece as Fairbanks got seven points and Behan six points.
Meanwhile, Christian Brothers Academy returned from an 11-day hiatus to face Oswego last Tuesday night, and that rest did wonders for the Brothers, as it showed while putting away the Buccaneers 48-38 to improve its mark to 12-5.
CBA had not played since a Jan. 22 loss to Central Square. Two days before that, the Brothers had won, 60-38, at Oswego, and the Bucs, remembering that outcome, proved a lot tougher on the Brothers’ home floor, nearly rallying from a 29-20 halftime deficit.
To hang on late, CBA needed to clamp down on defense – which it did, holding Oswego to eight points in the fourth quarter. As that went on, Natalie Nardella worked her total to 17 points, adding four rebounds and four steals, while Nafysa Williams had 10 points and eight rebounds. Rosalee Winderl got nine rebounds, eight points and five steals as Paige Nicholson finished with seven points.
The happiness was short-lived, for on Saturday CBA went to Rochester and lost, 82-45, to Bishop Kearney, the game getting away when Kearney outscored the Brothers 29-5 in the third quarter. Winderl led with 11 points, while Nardella had nine points, Brooke Jarvis seven points and Olivia Carni six points.
Now, on Friday night, CBA met East Syracuse Minoa and doubled up the Spartans, 68-34, earning most of those baskets in the first three quarters while amassing a 62-31 lead.
Nicholson, in particular, broke out, earning 24 points as Nardella added 15 points, seven rebounds and three assists. Winderl put together 13 points, six rebounds and three assists as Williams got seven rebounds. ESM saw Athena Thomason earn nine points, with Taylor Filmer and Sam Valentine getting six points apiece.
Just before facing CBA, the Spartans lost, 52-39, to Fulton, a game where the 1-16 Spartans proved quite competitive against the 11-5, playoff-bound Red Raiders, only trailing by seven, 37-30, through three quarters before it got away in the final minutes.
Three different ESM players – Thomason, Brigid McGinley and Loren Clifford – earned 11 points apiece, while Olivia McEachron earned all six of her points at the free-throw line. Nine different Red Raiders had at least two points, with Sydney Gilmore scoring a game-high 16 points.