While it wasn’t a revelation to have the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team tame Christian Brothers Academy last Saturday night, the margin was quite revealing.
Here, the Red Rams beat the Brothers 66-14, managing to pull off the rare feat of beating a quality opponent twice by the same 52-point margin, having prevailed 72-20 when the teams first met on Jan. 5.
Now, On J-D’s home court, CBA did not get on the scoreboard until the second quarter, and the seven points put up in that period proved to be the team’s peak. The Rams hardly let up on defense, surrendering just five field goals all night to the Brothers.
Eighth-grader Momo LeClair led J-D with 15 points, one more than CBA’s entire total. Gabby Stickle finished with 12 points, while Julia Kelner had 11 points. Jamie Boeheim and Kasey Vaughan got nine points apiece and Andrea Sumida added seven points.
In the lead-up to this game, J-D, just as it had moved back up to no. 5 in the state Class A rankings, flattened East Syracuse Minoa 78-12 last Tuesday night, just as CBA was hosting Central Square and topping the Redhawks 55-46.
Against a Central Squad side considered one of the top Class AA sectional title contenders CBA gained an early advantage. But the key to the win was holding the Redhawks to six points in the third quarter, which allowed it to withstand its own slump and then produce enough in the fourth quarter to prevent any comeback.
The Brothers had near-perfect offensive balance, with Emily Hall getting 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Victoria Hall had 11 points, while Brooke Jarvis finished with 10 points. Nafysa Williams had nine points and Hannah Brooks added eight points. Central Square lost despite getting Julia Mann (14 points), Breanna Ransom (11 points) and Lauren Bell (10 points) in to double figures.
Meanwhile, J-D was devastating ESM from the time it went through the first quarter 21-2. It kept going from there as Kelner, with 20 points, and Boeheim, with 14 points, outscored the Spartans by themselves, while Sumida had 12 points to match Meg Hair. Stickle added seven points.
CBA faced Auburn the night before the J-D clash and, perhaps looking ahead, got caught in a 54-50 overtime defeat to the Maroons.
What made it more frustrating was that the Brothers led, 35-30, through three quarters, only to have Auburn catch up in the final period and tie it, 48-48, before turning to its defense in the four-minute OT period, holding CBA to just two points.
Thus, great efforts by Williams, who had 22 points, and Jarvis, who had 14 points, got wasted. Olivia Carni and Victoria Hall had six points apiece. All nine of Auburn’s players that saw action got at least one field goal, with Stefanie Gera (15 points) and Grace Baranick (11 points) leading the way.
ESM, looking to rebound from the J-D defeat, instead fell to Cortland 52-28, and this despite giving up just four points in the first quarter. The Purple Tigers took over from there as Brigid McGinley led the Spartans with just seven points. Maggie Reagan led Cortland by earning 16 points.
Though Bishop Grimes was gearing up for its own at Bishop Ludden Thursday night, it had plenty of other games to make it through, starting with last Monday night’s trip to Solvay that resulted in a comfortable 64-37 victory over the Bearcats.
Despite a good first half, the state Class B no. 14-rankedCobras only led 28-21 at halftime, but it got clear by doubling up Solvay, 22-11, in the third quarter, with the usual stars leading the way.
Azariah Wade finished with 22 points, while Brianna Squier kept drawing contact, earning seven of her 17 points at the free-throw line. Abby Wilkinson stepped up, too, with 14 points as Maria Naylor got eight points. No one on Solvay had more than eight points, a number shared by Elle Hodge, Johnae Crenshaw and Aleah Yaizzo.
Going to Marcellus Thursday night, Grimes took a different approach – and won by the same margin, smashing the Mustangs 72-45 largely on the strength of what it did early. Hot early shooting had the Cobras up 25-5 by the end of the first quarter and 44-16 by halftime.
Wade, who had 18 points, got company from Wilkinson, whose 18 points involved a pair of 3-pointers. Also, Molly McInerney, mostly known for her defensive prowess, chimed in with 11 points as Squier got nine points and Elizabeth Wolaver six points. Liz White paced Marcellus with just 10 points, with Sydney Lewis adding nine points and five rebounds, plus Eve Hughes getting seven points, five rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocks.
Grimes would trip up, though, in Saturday’s 67-57 defeat to Bishop Kearney (Section V). Against the same Kearney team that routed Bishop Ludden one week earlier in Rochester, the Cobras faell behind early and then seeing Kearney outscore them 15-7 in the third quarter to establish a 49-35 margin.
Though it made an attempt to rally in the final period, Grimes could not catch up. Wade still had 22 points, while Wilkinson hit three 3-pointers on her way to 18 points overall. Naylor and McInerney each had two 3-pointers and gained eight points apiece.
