Having won state Class B championships in the past, the Jamesville-DeWitt boys lacrosse team knows that the only ranking that counts is the one taken at season’s end. Still, it had to be quite an honor that, in the wake of the its dramatic, come-from-behind 7-6 win at Carthage on May 15, the undefeated Red Rams moved to no. 1 in the ensuing state Class B poll. Yet just as soon as J-D reached the top, the whole thing got thrown into jeopardy.
At a routine practice just after the Carthage game, Jake Bratek, the team’s leading scorer, suffered a broken collarbone, which might cost the Syracuse University-bound senior the rest of the season. Stunned by this, J-D had to go back on the field Tuesday night to face New Hartford. As what often happens, a team without an injured star rallied together — and the Rams sure did so in a 24-2 romp over the Spartans. The first half was frightening enough. Not content with the 8-1 lead it built in the first quarter, J-D set out in the second period and racked up 12 unanswered goals — an average of one per minute — so that it could lead 20-1 and rest the starters in the late going. Eric DeJohn, sure to be the main focus of defenders in Bratek’s absence, had five goals and one assist while Tim Edwards and McLaren Brady each had three-goal hat tricks. Close behind them, Joe Shepard, Peter Goss and Ian Gilchriest each had two goals, while Lucas Johnson managed a goal and three assists and Cam Stone had four assists. Ed Kiesa had one goal and two assists as Rob Elbers, Alex Hatem and Steven Aziz earned single tallies. Deke Burns added an assist. Two nights later, J-D would try and complete an undefeated regular season at 12-3 Cortland, a good chance to find just how much the loss of Bratek would affect them against a high-quality opponent. And it did bother them — for a half, anyway — before a startling third-quarter surge paved the way for a 14-6 victory over the Purple Tigers. Even after the Rams sped to an early 3-1 lead, Cortland stayed calm, then beat up on J-D’s defense with a second-quarter surge. At the break, J-D found itself tied, 6-6, but whatever coach Jamie Archer and his staff said to the players during halftime seemed to have an instant impact. For when things resumed in the third quarter, J-D flattened Cortland, earning eight unanswered goals as it won the face-offs, then tore right through the Purple Tigers’ back line. DeJohn, with four goals and two assists, led the way as Edwards, Kiesa and Shepard each scored twice. Stone had a goal and three assists as Evans got one goal and two assists. Goss and Hatem scored, too, as Elbers got an assist. As the top seed in Class B, J-D will await Saturday’s Class B semifinal at Cicero-North Syracuse’s Bragman Stadium against the survivor of Thursday’s first-round game between East Syracuse-Minoa and Whitesboro. Carthage and Auburn play in the other semifinal, with the title to be decided June 2, also at Bragman Stadium.