CENTRAL NEW YORK – Could a defeat prove valuable and encouraging, even on the brink of a post-season where one bad performance can bring everything to an end?
That’s a theory the Jamesville-DeWitt boys basketball team might find itself testing after last Tuesday’s furious comeback against Cicero-North Syracuse, for though the Northstars won 70-67, the Red Rams had to feel good.
Against a C-NS side 17-2 and no. 14 in the state Class AAA rankings, J-D found itself in the same situation it did against Liverpool on Feb. 9, trailing by a sizable margin after three quarters.
Yet that 55-39 deficit nearly went away. Red-hot from the field, the Rams ate into the Northstars’ lead, ultimately seeing four players score in double figures.
Alan Zanders led with 20 points, with Trent Hughes getting 13 points as Jackson Saroney and Jack Hazelton had 10 points apiece. Only by a small margin did C-NS hang on, mostly due to a three-pronged attack that had Andrew Benedict gain 24 points, Nate Francis 19 points and Michael Pfautz 17 points.
Despite the loss, J-D holds the no. 2 seed for the Section III Class A playoffs, and next Friday at 6:45 it will host, in the quarterfinal round, the winner of Tuesday’s opening-round game between no. 7 seed New Hartford and no. 10 seed Homer.
East Syracuse Minoa, who has hovered around the .500 mark all season, never had a chance to end there as its regular-season finale against Chittenango was called off due to weather.
This followed last Tuesday’s 67-50 defeat to Fulton, the Spartans’ fourth defeat in a row, where a 25-12 push through the second quarter got the Red Dragons out in front to stay, led by Gavin Doty, Aidan Baldwin (20 points each) and Tyler Ditton (18 points).
No one on ESM could equal that production, though Anthony Bryant did get 13 points, A.J. Graham earned 11 points and Tyler Quarry had 10 points. Austin Betts (eight points) and Robbie Clifford (six points) were close behind.
Now ESM takes the no. 7 seed into the sectional Class AA tournament, hosting no. 10 seed Auburn in Tuesday’s opening round, the winner to get no. 2 seed Syracuse Academy of Science in next Friday’s quarterfinals.
Christian Brothers Academy and Bishop Grimes both met high-profile, state-ranked opponents from across town last Tuesday night, and both of them lost.
The Brothers fell to state Class B no. 14-ranked Westhill 62-52, playing on even terms in the second half, but only after the Warriors had established a 30-20 advantage by halftime.
At least that one was close, unlike with Grimes, who against the state’s top-ranked Class B team, Marcellus, was overwhelmed in an 82-46 defeat where the Mustangs outscored them 20-5 in the first quarter and kept building from there.
No Cobras player scored in double figures, Nate Abernethy held to four points as Boi Garang led with nine points, ahead of seven-point outings by Michael D’Agata and Larry Nesci. Mitch Donegan, with 15 points, led a well-balanced Marcellus attack.
Grimes still got the no. 6 seed in Class AA and faces no. 11 seed PSLA-Fowler as Fayetteville-Manlius, boosted by strong late-season play, earned the no. 5 seed and meets no. 12 seed Oswego in that same opening round.
Both hope to advance to the quarterfinals, where CBA is already situated as the no. 7 seed in Class AAA, tasked next Friday with trying to upend C-NS, the no. 2 seed, with the winner to advance to the semifinals Feb. 28 at F-M against Rome Free Academy or Baldwinsville.
And in Class D, Manlius Pebble Hill picked up the no. 15 sectional seed and, in Tuesday’s first sectional game, will try to stun no. 2 seed Faith Heritage.
