Through three consecutive state Class C playoff games, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys lacrosse team has worked hard to avoid the kind of stress it faced when it rallied from a four-goal deficit to top Homer in the Section III final.
Already with routs over Johnson City (19-6) and Canton (16-4) in the regional round behind them, the Red Rams dominated again in Wednesday’s state semifinal against Palmyra-Macedon at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium, deciding matters in the opening minutes and cruising past the Red Raiders 20-6.
Palmyra-Macedon, the Section V champions, were relatively new to this stage. J-D was not, and it took just 34 seconds for the Rams to make its opening statement, Andrew Barclay tearing past Raiders defenders on a solo run to the net that ended in the game’s first goal.
Though Palmyra-Macedon tied it, 1-1, a few minutes later, it took just 42 seconds for Griffin Cook to answer, the first of 16 consecutive goals on J-D’s part.
It was quickly apparent that the Raiders could not cope with the Rams’ combination of speed and skill. Cook needed less than nine minutes to pick up a hat trick and would stack up five goals, while linemate Joe Kiesa found the net four times.
Not to be left out, Ryan Archer scored twice in a 20-second span late in the first quarter, part of a stretch of five goals in less than three minutes that made it 8-1 going to the second period.
Barclay, Cook, Kiesa and Jai Benson all took turns converting to get the game to a running clock (12-goal margin) before halftime, where it stood at 14-1. Palmyra-Macedon would play better in the second half, but much of its production took place long after J-D’s starters had gone to the bench.
Cook finished with six goals and one assist. Archer got three goals and three assists. Loud cheers came from the Rams’ sideline as Vincenzo Digristina notched two late goals and eighth-grader John Keib also converted, the reserves seeing extended minutes so the starters could rest for the last test ahead.
On Saturday at St. John Fisher College near Rochester, J-D will face two-time defending champion Cold Spring Harbor in the state Class C final, a rare instance of two reigning state champions battling it out in a title game.
