Right from the outset of the Section III Class A playoffs, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team’s eight-year championship run seemed in peril.
Unlike seasons past, the Red Rams did not breeze through the quarterfinal round on Tuesday night, instead seeing Bishop Ludden nearly rally to force overtime before J-D held on to win 58-55.
Ludden had gone 10-10 against a tough regular-season slate before a 66-47 first-round win over Oswego. So the Gaelic Knights were not rattled when J-D moved out to a first-half lead and ultimately took a 31-24 lead to the break.
Throughout the second half, the Gaelic Knights’ trio of Amarah Streiff (18 points), Kaitlyn Kibling (17 points) and Keiara Odune (13 points) combined to match what the Rams produced, and kept the game close to the end.
Only up by three as the final seconds ticked down, J-D had to sweat out one more Ludden opportunity and a tying 3-point shot that glanced off the rim as the horn sounded.
Momo LaClair carried the Rams’ attack for long stretches, finishing with 26 points off 10 field goals and six free throws. Some help came from Sydney Baker, who had 12 points, but no other J-D player had more than five points.
Meanwhile, Christian Brothers Academy, bent on dethroning J-D after a narrow defeat to the Rams in last year’s sectional semifinals, had captured the top seed in Class A with a 16-4 regular-season mark.
And unlike J-D, the Brothers would not have much stress during its sectional quarterfinal last Tuesday night, handling no. 8 seed Indian River in a 69-42 decision.
Having rolled past Fulton 64-37 in the opening round, IR quickly got itself in trouble, its defense unable to stop anything CBA tried as it steadily increased its production and led 40-27 by halftime.
Then the Brothers improved on defense to make sure IR didn’t rally, all the while ably spreading out its offense beyond the program’s all-time leading scorer, Brooke Jarvis, who had 20 points.
Leana Heitmann gained 17 points, with twin sisters Emily and Tori Hall each getting 10 points. By contrast, only LaKaya Butcher hit double figures for IR, matching Heitmann’s total of 17 points.
Both J-D and CBA advance to sectional semifinals Saturday at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall – the Red Rams against no. 6 seed New Hartford, who ousted no. 3 seed Central Square, and the Brothers against no. 5 seed Whitesboro, who topped no. 4 seed Cortland 41-26.
Up in Class AA, Fayetteville-Manlius almost joined its two neighbors in the sectional semifinal round, but the no. 6 seed Hornets lost its sectional quarterfinal to no. 3 seed West Genesee 53-46 in overtime.
They had met twice in the regular season, WG winning both times including a 53-43 decision on Feb. 15 where Lexie Roe again was injured, knocking out F-M’s leading scorer for the sectional tournament.
Yet the Hornets did not let this setback derail them. Instead, in the playoff rematch it relied on tough half-court defense to force a string of Wildcats turnovers in the first half.
Meanwhile, Lily Fish picked up nine of team-high 15 points in the second quarter, and the Hornets led through much of the game’s middle stages, stretching that margin out to five twice in the third period.
WG fought back, and it remained tight through the home stretch. They entered the final minute tied, 37-37, but WG appeared to put it away with a Catie Cunnigham basket, defensive stop and Meredith James free throw.
Down three, 40-37, F-M worked it to the outside where Lexi Kellish, scoreless to that point, drilled a 3-pointer with 2.0 seconds left, tying the game and sending it to overtime.
Somehow, WG regrouped from this blow, scored the first six points of the four-minute extra period and never got caught, led by James, who earned 12 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter and OT, and Cunningham, who got 16 points.
Other than Fish, Ava Angello was the Hornets’ top scorer, with nine points, while Kendra Broddus had eight points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.
