CENTRAL NEW YORK – Strong play throughout the regular season produced a no. 2 seed for the Jamesville-DeWitt boys basketball team in the Section III Class A playoffs.
And the Red Rams would make quite the post-season debut Friday night, announcing itself to the rest of the 16-team field when it took out no. 15 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill 91-30.
In what was by far its most lopsided victory of the season, J-D had a 48-13 edge by halftime and, by game’s end, would have 13 different players convert at least one field goal.
Terrell Willis and Alan Zanders, with 16 points apiece, led the way, with Jack Hazelton getting a trio of 3-pointers to account for most of his 15 points and Eamon Gibling adding 12 points.
If the seeds hold through the early rounds, the Red Rams would meet no. 3 seed Bishop Grimes in the semifinals March 3 at Fayeteville-Manlius, with the title game March 7 at SRC Arena.
Grimes would exactly match J-D’s point total in its opening-round game Friday against no. 14 seed Homer, routing the Trojans 91-49 as it erupted for 34 points in the first quarter alone and had an 80-35 lead through three periods.
Five Cobras scored in double figures led by A.J. Wade and Garang Garang with 14 points apiece. Nate Abernethy, Bol Garang and Vince Reeder each got 11 points as Eddie Koroma had nine points.
To make the J-D-Grimes semifinal possible, the Rams have to beat no. 7 seed New Hartford in the quarterfinals as Grimes hosts no. 6 seed Utica Academy of Science.
Giving itself a big boost right before the playoffs, J-D avenged an earlier defeat to Fulton in Wednesday’s regular-season finale, topping the Red Dragons 60-41.
Quite unlike the 82-81, double-overtime epic the two teams played in December where Fulton’s Xavier Doty got 29 points and the Rams’ Alan Zanders had 30 points, this game was about J-D’s defense.
All game long the Rams never let the Red Dragons produce any kind of scoring run, leading to a 33-23 halftime advantage and then a decisive 18-6 tear through the third quarter.
Doty only had seven points this time, while Zanders, getting 17 points, was matched by teammate Steve Bazile who also produced seven rebounds. Jackson Saroney had 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists, Willis and Giblin each grabbing nine rebounds/
Meanwhile, Fayetteville-Manlius has the no. 6 seed in Class AAA and goes into next Thursday night’s 7 p.m. quarterfinal against no. 3 seed Bishop Ludden following a late-season slump which included last Wednesday’s 75-49 defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse.
The Northstars used a 22-7 third-quarter spurt to break the game open. No Hornets player scored in double figures, Brandon Blitz leading with nine points as Jack Hearn and Vincent Liu earned seven points apiece and Charlie Schroder got six points.
Christian Brothers Academy holds the no. 5 seed and will face no. 4 seed Liverpool in the quarterfinals Wednesday night at 6 p.m., having come closer to knocking off Bishop Ludden in their second “Holy War” of the winter last Wednesday night.
For three quarters the two sides were on close terms, with the Brothers’ defense doing an excellent job slowing down the game’s tempo and containing the Gaelic Knights and then adding baskets in the third quarter to lead by as much as 15.
Yet that lead quickly vanished, Ludden going on an 18-0 run to go in front and eventually win it 58-46 to overcome a game-high 28 points from Tavin Penix as Drew Britton added seven points.
Jahzar Greene again led the Gaelic Knights, his 31 points helping him cross the 1,000-career point mark as he added six rebounds and four assists.
East Syracuse Minoa watched all this and rested as the no. 3 seed in Class AA. When no. 6 seed Oswego topped no. 11 seeed Whitesboro 82-74 in the opening round, the Spartans found out that it will meet the Buccaneers Tuesday at 6 p.m., with the winner going to the semifinal March 3 at Cicero-North Syracuse against Nottingham or Auburn.
