CENTRAL NEW YORK – Three area high school girls basketball teams in three different classes had to go on the road for their respective Section III quarterfinal games – and two of them made it through.
Jamesville-DeWitt emerged victorious, the no. 5 seed Red Rams claiming a 52-51 thriller over no. 4 seed Fulton Tuesday night to advance to the Class A semifinal round against top seed Auburn.
Even though J-D swept the Red Raiders in a pair of December games, it knew, from the outset, that this third game would prove far more challenging.
Indeed, Fulton appeared to take control in the second quarter, grabbing a 27-16 lead, but the Rams battled back and closed within four, 32-28, by halftime, and charged out in front early in the third period.
Paced by Aniyah Neal, who had 19 points, J-D had a 45-39 edge as the quarter wound down, but a 3-pointer at the horn by Carleigh Patterson sparked another Red Raiders rally.
Clinging to a one-point edge, 50-49, the Rams got a steal and basket from Victoria Payne to stretch the margin to three, only to see Fulton again cut it to one and then have J-D miss a pair of free throws with 16.4 seconds left.
Any basket now might give the Red Raiders a win – but the Rams’ defense clamped down and didn’t even let Fulton get a shot off before time ran out.
Neal finished with 21 points, with Ava Sandroni getting 10 points. Bella Sindoni got eight points, Payne had seven points and Miriam Zoghby added six points. Madison Baum led Fulton with 15 points.
A night later, the latest remarkable post-season run by Bishop Grimes continued when the no. 12 seed Cobras played a near-perfect fourth quarter to pull away and beat no. 4 seed Westhill 55-40, advancing to face unbeaten top seed Little Falls in the semifinal round.
Seeking to avenge a 60-39 loss to Grimes in December, the Warriors seized an early 15-8 lead, only to have the Cobras make it all up and go in front, 28-25, by halftime.
They stayed close through the third quarter, but in the final period the Cobras’ relentless defensive pressure led to a series of Westhill turnovers and Grimes, converting plenty on the other end, closed on a 21-7 run.
Naywel Ayeil led the comeback, finishing with 18 points as Jenna Sloan and Natalie Musolino had 12 points apiece.
All game long, the Cobras contained Westhill’s 1,000-point scorer, Catherine Dadey, holding her to eight points. Only Janiah Robinson, with 11 points, hit double figures for the Warriors.
Up in Class AA, Fayetteville-Manlius, holding the no. 8 seed, looked to take down top seed Cicero-North Syracuse, and had a great chance to do so before it slipped away late in a 51-39 loss to the Northstars.
C-NS had beaten the Hornets twice in the regular season. One of them was a 39-38 thriller on Dec. 23. The other was a 62-16 romp late in January, but F-M didn’t have its leading scorer, Ava Angello, in the lineup.
Angello’s presence, alone, made the playoff game resemble the one in December, a tense, back-and-forth battle where the Northstars led most of the way, yet could not draw clear.
Patient on offense, F-M found good looks and had success inside thanks to Angello, who finished with 19 points, and Evie Kawa, who put in 12 points.
When Kawa converted with 3:10 left, the Hornets only trailed 43-38, but that was F-M’s last field goal as C-NS kept anything from going in down the stretch and, offensively, were led by Alexa Kulakowski, who poured in 26 points.
