Now it’s five consecutive appearances for the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team in the state Class A championship game, with the possibility of a third consecutive state title close at hand.
What made the Red Rams’ 71-55 victory over Binghamton Seton Catholic in Friday night’s state semifinal at Troy’s Hudson Valley Community College special was who it beat, and how it was done.
Seton Catholic was, itself, a reigning state champion, having won it all in 2017 in Class B before getting moved up by Section IV this season, and had many key players back from that team, including a trio of 1,000-point scorers – Hanna Strawn, Marina Maerkl and Julia Hauer.
Thus, defeating the Saints would require some real work on the Rams’ part, and the task was made more difficult when, sparked by Strawn’s hot outside shooting, Seton grabbed a 17-6 lead late in the first quarter.
Only the production of Meg Hair, who had seven of those nine points in the opening period, saved J-D from a worse start, but it gave the Rams an opportunity to show that it could also perform when staring at a deficit.
Throughout the second quarter, the Rams excelled in its half-court game, either pounding it inside to its front line led by Jamie Boeheim, or converting open shots from the perimeter, even when Hair was occupied.
Key 3-pointers from the likes of Paige Keeler and Gabby Stickle, plus baskets from Momo LaClair and Andrea Sumida, helped J-D outscore Seton 24-9 the rest of the half, and gaining a 30-26 halftime lead was only the first part.
Throughout the third quarter, the Rams answered all of the Saints’ pushes and then stretched its lead to 43-33, only to see Seton fight back in the final period, and close within five, 53-48, on another Strawn 3-pointer.
Just when it looked like things could get stressful, Stickle drained a 3-pointer of her own to stretch the margin back to eight, and Vaughan followed with a steal and lay-up, making it 58-48, and J-D pulled away from there.
Hair, consistently adding to her total throughout the night, finished with 23 points. Boeheim and LaClair both finished with 11 points. Strawn paced Seton with 17 points as Hauer contributed 15 points.
In Saturday night’s state title game at 8:45 at HVCC, J-D faces Elmont Memorial, from Long Island, who defeated Williamsville South 70-61 in the other semifinal. It’s a rematch of last year’s state semifinal game that the Red Rams won 70-42 over the Spartans.
