Maybe the best thing that could have happened to the Jamesville-DeWitt boys golf team was a Sept. 26 defeat to Auburn, less than a week before the Section III fall tournament got underway.
Undefeated before that match, the Red Rams found a new reason to focus and then, when it traveled to Radisson Greens on a cold, wet Wednesday morning, set out to work.
And when that work was completed, J-D was sectional champions again, repeating its 2018 triumph by posting a team score of 397, 10 strokes clear of runner-up Oswego among Salt City Athletic Conference Empire division teams.
In fact, counting SCAC Metro division sides who had their own sectional tournament, the Rams had the second-best overall team score, trailing only the 395 from Cicero-North Syracuse Blue.
To lead J-D’s individuals, junior Peter Hatton shot a five-over-par 77, while sophomore Punn Chittaratlert posted a 78. Junior Tanner Burns had an 18-hole total of 79 as senior Tyler Brang contributed an 80. All four of them advanced to next May’s sectional state qualifying tournament at Seven Oaks.
The lowest five team scores counted, so when junior Essex Glowaki posted 83, J-D had clinched the sectional title as fellow junior Julian Galletta finished with an 86.
East Syracuse Minoa Blue finished with 42 as Joe Pacheco, with an 80, and Dan Sitnik, with an 81, also advanced to the state qualifier. David Griffith’s 86 was one stroke ahead of Owen White’s 87 as Alex Leo shot 90 and Zach Johnson posted a 92.
Up in the Class AA portion of the fall sectional tournament, Fayetteville-Manlius Green could not quite follow up its regular-season SCAC Metro division title with similar success at Radisson. The Hornets shot 400, just behind C-NS Blue’s 395 and the 399s from West Genesee and Baldwinsville.
Velton Perry, shooting a 76, tied for fourth place among individuals, four shots behind Liverpool’s Dylan Husted, who was the individual medalist with an even-par 72. Mike Millimaci, shooting a 77, tied Hatton for seventh place.
Adam Butch’s 80 allowed him to advance to the state qualifier, while Matt LaCombe posted an 83, just one stroke away from the qualifying cut of 82. Jack Sommers and Andrew Heyman both finished at 84 and Enzo Abruzzese added an 85 as Jed Danaher and Seth Bailey had matching rounds of 91.
F-M White, who finished with 463 in its sectional tournament debut, was led by Andrew Ahn’s round of 88. Tobey Schulman shot a 90, with Anthony Ahn adding a 93 as Luke Weisiger had a 95. Alex Duggleby and Jason Carter each shot 97.
In much warmer conditions 24 hours earlier, Christian Brothers Academy vied for top honors in the small school sectional fall tournament and found itself in its own four-team battle royal for first place.
The Brothers shot 427, one shot behind Westhill and Skaneateles (426), and two shots behind Cazenovia, who was 4-10 a season ago but turned it around this fall, going 10-4, and then posted a 425 at the sectional tournament to prevail by one stroke.
Still, three CBA golfers advanced to the state qualifier. Joe Nicholson shot a 78 to tie Homer’s Mitch Riter for fourth place, while Jack MacLachlan shot an 84 and Mike Santaro added an 85.
Dan Angelo, with an 88, missed out on advancing by just two shots as Peter Scuderi, with a 91, and James Stanton, shooting a 92, nearly gave the Brothers the scores it needed to finish on top of the team standings.
