CENTRAL NEW YORK – If ever a victory was needed, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team received it, and did so at the expense of its neighbors from East Syracuse Minoa.
The Red Rams’ tough 39-37 win over the Spartans last Tuesday night broke a three-game skid where J-D’s offense had gone cold, not scoring more than 33 in any of those games.
ESM, entering the game at 5-4, didn’t make it much easier, hanging in there with its defense even after the Rams worked its way to a 23-17 halftime advantage.
Led by Aniyah Jones (17 points) and Angelina Polcaro (11 points), the Spartans inched closer and only trailed by one, 38-37, as the game entered the closing stretch.
With 30 seconds left, Ava Sandroni hit one of two free throws. Then J-D’s defense shut down ESM’s attempt to tie or win the game before time ran out.
Sandroni finished with 14 points, returning to form and helping out stalwarts Macy Durkin and Aniyah Neal as Durkin got 11 points and Neal added 10 points.
J-D went to Oswego Friday’ and, in another low-scoring affair, did just enough to beat the Buccaneers 35-32.
Held to four points in the first quarter, J-D caught up and tied it, 13-13, by halftime. Then it inched ahead of Oswego and stayed there helped by 12 points from Neal and nine points from Durkin.
ESM, meanwhile, was off until Saturday’s game against Carthage, where it rolled past the Comets 56-26. All 11 Spartans that saw action got on the scoresheet as Jones finished with 16 points and Leah Chavoustie added 12 points.
Christian Brothers Academy continued its mid-season surge with an impressive effort last Wednesday night against Oneida, shutting down the Indians on the way to a 48-31 victory.
Oneida never got more than 10 points in any single quarter, the Brothers steadily building its margin over the first three periods with patience and persistence.
Most of Chianna Williams’ 13 points came from a trio of 3-pointers, while Sydney Vaughn managed 11 points. Helping out, Liana Thomas had seven points and Amelia Bonacci added six points.
Then, when CBA faced Bishop Grimes Friday night, the Brothers were impressive from start to finish, overwhelming the Cobras 52-19.
After holding Grimes to just two points in the first quarter, CBA waited for its offense to click – which it did in the third quarter, outscoring the Cobras 25-6.
Williams was again at the center of things, her 23 points more than the entire Grimes roster could manage. Cara Macaluso had eight points and Thomas added six points.
Only on Saturday did CBA finally cool down, taking a 47-34 defeat to Class A favorite Indian River as it was outscored 27-11 by the Warriors in the second and third quarters. Michaela Delles led IR with 21 points as teammate Allison LaMora piled up 15 rebounds.
Elsewhere, Fayetteville-Manlius visited West Genesee last Tuesday night and, led by Evie Kawa and a stifling defense, defeated the Wildcats 36-26.
As the Hornets were in the course of outscoring WG 22-9 in the second and third quarters, Kawa kept giving her side extra possessions, which proved important.
Aside from 15 points, Kawa amassed 12 rebounds, four assists and three steals as Lauren Hoffman got eight points. Other than Alaina Dudzinski’s 10 points, no other Wildcats player had more than one field goal.
