With a state Class A championship to defend and a sixth consecutive Section III Class A title to go after, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team would have plenty of stake when the post-season got underway.
And in Tuesday night’s sectional quarterfinal, the no. 2 seed Red Rams (Whitesboro owns the top seed) would get to face no. 7 seed Christian Brothers Academy, a team it routed twice during the regular season.
Before taking a week’s rest, J-D traveled to Auburn last Tuesday night and did to the Maroons what it has done to every local opponent – namely, win big, to the tune of a 63-32 margin.
To its credit, Auburn did put up more points than other OHSL Freedom division sides, but that only came after the Rams tore through a 24-7 first quarter and, by halftime, had most of its eventual margin on hand, leading 38-10.
Julia Kelner’s late-season tear continued as she got 20 points, while Meg Hair hit three 3-pointers on her way to 14 points overall. Jamie Boeheim gained nine points, while Angela Bussone finished with seven points. Stefanie Gara, with 18 points, accounted for more than half of Auburn’s production.
CBA finished above .500 for the regular season (10-9) with its own impressive effort last Tuesday against Mexico, ending in a 56-18 rout of the Tigers.
Essentially, the game was decided when the Brothers went on a 24-2 first-quarter rampage. CBA couldn’t keep up that pace, but it never got threatened, either, as all 13 players that saw action earned at least one field goal.
Things were so spread out that only Nafysa Williams, who had 14 points, reached double figures. Olivia Carni had seven points, while Megan Lynch got six points, Erika Mayette, Rachel Krul, Tessa Queri and Rachel Ziemba each chimed in with four points.
The season for East Syracuse Minoa concluded with a 56-48 defeat to Fulton where the Spartans led, 26-16, at halftime, but saw the Red Raiders break out in the third quarter with a 26-9 outburst, taking the lead for good.
Loren Clifford poured in 21 points for ESM, who finished its season at 4-15. Brigid McGinley had 12 points, while Sam Valentine gained nine points. Erin Nicholson led Fulton’s comeback, earning 23 points as McKenna Chesbro gained 12 points.
