ONONDAGA COUNTY – Only winning Section III championships really appeals to the Jamesville-DeWitt boys basketball team, and it’s in a great position to do so again.
Having earned the no. 2 seed in the sectional Class A bracket, the Red Rams were well-rested and ready when it met no. 7 seed New Hartford in Friday night’s quarterfinal round.
And while it was difficult at times, J-D was able to pull through, prevailing 56-44 over the Spartans and setting up a semifinal test on Tuesday against no. 3 seed Central Valley Academy, the winner to get Westhill or Chittenango in Friday’s final at SRC Arena.
Whether it was just the nature of New Hartford’s defense or the fact that it hadn’t played in more than a week, the Rams were cold on offense early, falling behind and staying that way for most of the first half.
Yet its defense allowed it to weather this drought and only trail 21-20 at halftime, and that deficit was soon gone, J-D making its way out in front in the third quarter and then securing its margin in the final minutes.
Alan Zanders led the late push, leading all scorers with 20 points, one more than New Hartford’s Ian Evans. But Evans was the only Spartan in double figures, while Zanders was nearly matched by Trent Hughes’ 16 points and also saw Eamon Giblin earn 10 points.
This happened as Christian Brothers Academy, holding the no. 7 seed in the newly-formed Class AAA bracket, challenged no. 2 seed Cicero-North Syracuse in its quarterfinal contest.
But unlike 2023, when the Brothers were at home and put an end to the Northstars’ title hopes when both were still in Class AA, it was C-NS who got the best of it here, pulling away late to prevail 68-44.
With its trademark man-to-man defense, the Brothers never let the Northstars get comfortable, even though C-NS grabbed an early advantage and limited CBA to just seven points in the second quarter while taking a 26-21 lead to the break.
What happened in the third period gave Brothers fans a reason to hope. Unable to produce baskets on a consistent basis, C-NS watched CBA narrow the margin to two, 37-35, and the memory of beating the Northstars in this same round one year earlier had to provide some motivation.
But it also made C-NS hungry – and, ultimately, too difficult to contain.
Picking up its pace and overwhelming CBA, the Northstars went on a closing 30-9 spurt, led again by Andrew Benedict, whose 23 points topped all individuals.
Otherwise, it was spread around well as Nate Francis, Michael Gallo, Michael Pfautz and Rosco Polos had nine points apiece. CBA was led by 18 points from Jason Brunson and 11 points from Max Lachut.
In Class D, the season for Manlius Pebble Hill ended in Tuesday’s round-of-16 as the no. 15 seed Trojans were ousted by no. 2 seed Faith Heritage 70-21.
At 17-3 and holding the no. 4 spot in the state rankings, the Saints jumped out to a 42-13 halftime lead and, not satisfied with this, limited MPH to a single free throw in the third quarter.
Ayden Whitted (eight points) and Tyler Wladis (six points) accounted for most of the Trojans’ production. Westin Retzos (18 points) and Landon Bregou (17 points) led Faith Heritage.
