Gone are Meg Hair, Jamie Boeheim and Kasey Vaughan, the core of a Red Rams team that won three consecutive New York State Public High School Athletic Association Class A titles.
However, with the likes of Andrea Sumida, Momo LaClair, Paige Keeler and Gabby Stickle back, J-D doesn’t expect to fall far, and there are no seniors on coach Rob Siechen’s roster.
For its opening act, J-D hosted the “Best of New York” Tournament last weekend, welcoming Buffalo Sacred Heart, Bishop Kearney (Rochester) and reigning Section II Class AA champion Colonie.
And in the first round Saturday, J-D made quite an impression against Sacred Heart, roaring to an 80-43 victory behind a fast-paced attack that took advantage of all the opportunities a stingy defense created through turnovers.
Keeler led the charge, earning 19 points, with Stickle adding 16 points and LaClair getting 13 points. Tracey Edson emerged with nine points as Sumida finished with eight points and Riley LaTray got six points.
Bishop Kearney beat Colonie 70-43 to reach Sunday’s final against J-D. And in that title game, the Red Rams were close until a late surge pushed the Kings to a 47-35 victory.
Kearney, a state Class AA final four team last winter, held everyone on the Rams in check for the first half except Stickler, who scored her team’s first 14 points to keep things from getting away.
Early in the third quarter, the Rams tied it 22-22, but with its strong inside game the Kings regained the lead and, to put it away, went on an 11-0 run in the final minutes, overcoming the work of Stickle and LaClair, who finished with 13 points.
J-D was trying to replicate the quick start to the season by its neighbors from Fayetteville-Manlius, who moved to 2-0 last Thursday night with a 60-40 victory over Oswego in its home opener.
The Hornets jumped out quickly, gaining a 14-5 lead on the Buccaneers by the end of the first quarter, and mostly nursed that margin until a closing 16-7 spurt while having all nine players in its rotation get at least one field goal.
Lily Fish led with 14 points, while Lexie Roe and Alexis Schneider finished with 12 points apiece. Ava Angello added six points and Elena Paolini got five points.
It proved a lot tougher on Saturday as F-M took its first defeat of the season to Saratoga Springs 64-28, with Roe producing eight points and Schneider adding six points.
Other area high school teams played earlier in the week, with Bishop Grimes involved in a high-profile game against visiting Westhill last Wednesday night where, again, Abby Wilkinson was superb, but the Cobras still lost 48-38 to the Warriors.
It was Wilkinson taking over in the second quarter, helping Grimes overcome an early 14-6 deficit. By scoring 13 first-half points, Wilkinson had the Cobras inch in front 20-19 by halftime.
Westhill quickly regained the lead in the third quarter, but Wilkinson worked her total to 26 points, and her fourth 3-pointer of the night cut Grimes’ deficit to 40-37 with more than three minutes to play.
However, the Warriors went on an 8-0 run to seal it as two of the baskets came from Jenna Larrabee, who despite foul trouble still managed 13 points to help Mackenzie Martin, who had 16 points. Catherine Dadey added 10 points as, aside from Wilkinson, no other Grimes player had more than the five points from Sarah Snavlin and Naywell Ayeil.
Christian Brothers Academy earned its first win of the season last Tuesday by flattening Phoenix 75-12, the Brothers not letting up until it had a 67-10 lead through three quarters.
All nine CBA players that saw action earned at least one field goal, with Skye Ryan and Brooke Jarvis each outscoring the Firebirds by themselves, Ryan getting 21 points and Jarvis 16 points. Emily Hall had 10 points as Maura Claire Coonan (eight points) and Iris Vinal (six points) closely followed.
East Syracuse Minoa lost, 72-31, to Marcellus last Tuesday, despite 13 points from Julianna Barton and 10 points from Angelina Thomason. Four Mustangs scored in double figures, led by Sarah Fallon (18 points) and Hannah Durand (15 points).
