True, it was a big deal that the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team made it to the top of the state Class A rankings. But it wanted to do more.
Again, weather affected the Red Rams’ schedule as last Saturday’s long-awaited rematch of the tense 2017 state Class A final between J-D and Pittsford Mendon (Section V) was pushed back to Jan. 27.
Before that, J-D, off for more than two weeks, resumed action last Wednesday with a 62-31 victory over Auburn where it waited until the second half for a full getaway.
Outscoring the Maroons 33-14 in the last two periods, the Rams got 16 points from Meg Hair, with Momo LaClair getting 13 points. Jamie Boeheim and Gabby Stickle had 12 points apiece.
Fayetteville-Manlius had hosted Liverpool on Dec. 29 in the Hoops for the Hospital Classic, and led for long stretches of the game, but could not hang on in a 50-47 defeat to the Warriors.
In steadily working its way to a 24-20 halftime lead, the Hornets defended well, and would do so the rest of the game against Liverpool’s leading scorer, Jenna Wike, holding her to a season-low three points.
Yet the Warriors adjusted and, in the third quarter, outscored F-M 22-12 to gain control, turning to Kyra Grimshaw, who finished with 19 points and eight rebounds as Lexi Emmi added 10 points.
The Hornets could not recover from that third-quarter blitz, though Lexy Gray did pick up 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks. Alexis Schneider had 10 points and five rebounds as Lily Fish (eight points, six rebounds) and Lexie Roe (seven points) contributed, too.
Up against Webster Thomas (Section V) a day later at SRC Arena, the Hornets took another defeat, this one by a 60-51 margin. The Titans outscored F-M 37-28 over the course of the second and third quarters.
F-M could not overcome that, despite a big effort from Roe as she hit on four 3-pointers and finished with 19 points overall. Schneider gained 14 points, with Alexandra Vinci’s 12 points including a pair of 3-pointers.
The new year started for F-M with a 48-20 win over Henninger last Wednesday as the Hornets’ defense held the Black Knights to just five points in the first half.
Staked to that 29-5 lead by halftime, F-M cruised as Gray picked up a team-best 16 points. Roe’s 10 points included a pair of 3-pointers as Vinci contributed eight points.
That same night, Christian Brothers Academy had to face unbeaten, state Class B no. 4-ranked Westhill, and lost 58-24, held to just 10 points in the first half and barely able to improve in the face of a suffocating Warriors defense.
Brooke Jarvis, with eight points, was the only Brothers player to have more than one field goal. Katelyn Karleski, with 16 points, paced Westhill as Mackenzie Martin (12 points) and Jenna Larrabee (10 points) also hit double figures.
Bishop Grimes returned to league action last Tuesday and routed Altmar-Parish-Williamstown 61-29, steadily building a 56-17 lead through three periods on the Rebels before resting starters.
Bri Squier led the Cobras with 14 points, just ahead of Abby Wilkinson, who had 12 points. Sarah Snavlin and Lora Marial both had season-best totals of eight points, matched by Jenna Sloan.
East Syracuse Minoa was handled in a 44-25 defeat to Cortland, the game close and low-scoring before the Purple Tigers pulled away in the second half, led by Tsai Lewis (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Lyndsie Babcock (10 points, 10 rebounds). Samantha Valentine led the Spartans with seven points as Holly Carr and Angelina Thomason had six points apiece.
