Now the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team’s run stands at eight Section III Class A championships in a row. And the latest of them may have proven the most satisfying of all.
A third-quarter surge, fueled by a smothering defense that did not let up until the final horn, turned potential defeat into triumph as the Red Rams upended Bishop Ludden 57-44 in Friday night’s championship game at the Carrier Dome.
“Winning eight straight titles is a great honor,” said Gabby Stickle, who led her side with 21 points and earned sectional tournament MVP honors.
Never in this championship run had J-D dealt with anyone like Ludden, who won back-to-back sectional Class B championships in 2017 and 2018 before getting promoted this winter.
At the outset, the Rams’ task centered around trying to contain Ludden’s potent forward duo of Aurora Deshaies and Amarah Streiff while also keeping an eye on the Gaelic Knights’ rotation of guards.
Quickly, the pattern was established – any time the ball didn’t go inside, J-D made a stop, but when it did get into the paint, Ludden would convert. Streiff and Deshaies scored all 13 of the Gaelic Knights’ points in the first quarter.
And while Deshaies got neutralized in the second quarter, Streiff, just an eighth-grader, kept converting, both in the paint and with midrange jumpers, and didn’t let up until she had amassed 22 points prior to halftime.
The intense pace – eight lead changes, five ties – led to J-D trailing 35-31 at halftime despite 11 points apiece from Stickle and Momo LaClair, both of whom deftly drove past their defenders for a string of easy baskets.
Still the Rams’ defense had to change its tactics and that meant going to full-court pressure when the second half got underway. It worked to perfection.
Within a span of 30 seconds J-D got a layup by LaClair and converted two Ludden turnovers into consecutive baskets by Stickle, putting the Rams in front for good.
“We wanted to attack right away and turn them over, and we did,” said Stickle.
Overall, the press produced 10 unanswered points, and even when the Rams switched to half-court pressure, it continued to stifle Ludden, forcing a string of turnovers and extra possessions.
LaClair had eight points as J-D outscored the Gaelic Knights 20-4 in that quarter. Not only that, LaClair did an effective job silencing Streiff, who only had one field goal after halftime.
J-D head coach Rob Siechen said that, in recent weeks, LaClair and Stickle have assumed the leadership roles that Meg Hair, Jamie Boeheim and Kasey Vaughan held so well during the Rams’ run to three consecutive state titles.
“It’s tough to take over those roles,” he said. “We make them do a lot of things, and they’re not shying away from it.”
As a whole, Ludden only had nine points in those last two periods, never able to put together any kind of run in the fourth quarter even after J-D cooled off from the field.
Now it’s back again to the state Class A tournament, and on Tuesday night J-D faces Section II champion Averill Park at Shenendehowa High School near Albany – the sixth straight time these two have met in the regional round.
Two wins – against Averill Park, and in a regional final Saturday at SUNY Potsdam against the Section X champions, are needed for the Red Rams to return to Troy’s Hudson Valley Community College for the March 16-17 state final four.
