CENTRAL NEW YORK – Since starting 0-3, the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team has played as well as anyone in the area large-school rankings, winning 10 of 11 games.
And the Red Rams kept it up last Friday night against Fayetteville-Manlius, claiming this neighborhood battle in a tense 38-35 decision ruled by the strong defensive play on both sides.
Both teams shot well at the outset and F-M, trying to turn things around with a 2-11 record entering the game, grabbed a 16-13 lead, which it would cling to for most of the game’s middle stages.
J-D’s own strong defense, which has allowed less than 50 points in all but one of its wins, kept the game close even as its offense slumped. Then, in the final period the Rams, trailing 32-29, would produce
just enough while limiting the Hornets to three points.
Ava Sandroni led again with 14 points. Maggie Bliss stepped up with seven points, which Savannah Schnorr matched. On F-M’s side, Lydia Land-Steves had 13 points and Jane Ryan added 11 points, Taylor Novack contributing six oinjts.
Before this, back on Jan. 24 J-D won its own tense 49-45 battle over Central Square, putting an end to the Redhawks’ seven-game win streak and completing a regular-season sweep.
Having handled Central Square 52-41 in December, the Red Rams found the rematch instantly tougher as it fell behind 17-9 through one period, only to make it up by halftime and lead 24-23 at the break.
Inching up the margin to 38-31 going to the final period, J-D saw Central Square fight back within a field goal in the final two minutes but with key defensive stops held on to its slim margin.
Sandroni’s 22 points was nearly half her team’s output, helped by Lindsay Parker getting 11 points. Payton St. Clair (16 points) and Hannah Waldron (14 points) paced the Redhawks.
As this went on, East Syracuse Minoa got its own victory over Auburn 57-45, a game that was tight most of the way but saw the Spartans’ defense take over in the fourth quarter when it held the Maroons to three points.
On the offensive end ESM was very much a two-player show. If I wasn’t Aniyah Jones earning 24 points, it was Sonya Benhassen grabbing 21 points while adding nine rebounds and three assists. Bella Kroll added six points.
Keeping this up in last Thursday night’s game against Fulton, ESM again leaned heavily on Jones and Benhassen and it proved effective to beat the Red Dragons 62-44.
They played on even terms for a while, 20-20 going into halftime, but the Spartans outscored Fulton 23-11 in the third quarter and was never caught.
Jones had nearly half her team’s output, finishing with 29 points, just one off her season-best total. Meanwhile, Benhassen earned 17 points, her eighth game in double figures this winter.
This tremendous week for ESM concluded last Saturday when it went to Nottingham and, by defeating the Bulldogs 56-49, climbed to the .500 mark and ran its win streak to five.
A low-scoring first half saw the Spartans trail 24-21 at the break, but it more than doubled its point total in the third quarter, breaking through the Bulldogs’ defenses and then clamping down.
Nottingham only got seven points in the final period, thwarting any comeback, as Jones continued her own late-season surge pouring in 28 points, seven of them free throws.
With Benhassen held to a single free throw Bella Kroll helepd out, earning 11 points, while Leah Chavoustie took on a larger role and gained 10 points. Keymora Woods (17 points) and Justyce Moore (13 points) led the Bulldogs.