Before it could go for a pair of OHSL Freedom division titles at Christian Brothers Academy this weekend, the Jamesville-DeWitt basketball teams first had to settle its business with other neighbors. The Red Rams swept both parts of last Friday night’s meeting with East Syracuse-Minoa. On the girls side, J-D, playing at home, continued to surge, going to 11-1 in league play (11-6 overall) by topping the Spartans 60-41. On the same court where the Rams so memorably downed ESM in last year’s opening round of the Section III Class A playoffs, a new cast of J-D stars displayed just how much they had down from their early tentative play. In fact, the game reflected the season-long growth. ESM led all through the first half, taking a 28-23 lead to the break, but J-D held them to seven points in the third quarter and inched in front by one, 36-35. Then came the fourth quarter, which was a dominant 24-6 effort by the Rams on both ends as it pulled away. Cydney Goodrum and Caitlin Cariseo led with 12 points apiece, while Abbey Smith earned nine points. Kayleigh Cavanaugh and Stephanie Mannion each got seven points. For ESM, Olivia Luciani and Gabby Eure both finished with 13 points. As this went on, the J-D boys team went to ESM and continued to show just what a difference the return of Demetrius Mitchell meant to them in beating the Spartans 83-58. Mitchell had come back from his foot injury the week before, and J-D had crushed Fowler and Fulton. Now it took ESM’s best shot in the first half, and still led 35-29 at the break before a 30-point third-quarter eruption put the game away. As DaJuan Coleman worked inside for 25 points and Tyler Cavanaugh added 20 points, Mitchell hit on four 3-pointers to account for most of his 21 points as the Rams’ offense continued to diversify. For ESM, Josh Stuper had 11 points as Sharif Nero, Tyler Johnson and Casey Sullivan got nine points apiece. ESM’s teams split with Phoenix last Monday night, with the boys Spartans surviving long enough to beat the Firebirds 46-42. All game long, Phoenix slowed it down, but ESM stayed patient and kept a slim lead through a well-balanced offense. Joe Greco led with 10 points, while Bobby Campese put up nine points. Stuper (eight points), Nero (seven points) and Matt Placito (six points) followed in order. Meanwhile, the girls Spartans went up against Phoenix and took a 54-47 defeat. This was a bit of a surprise, since the Firebirds only carried a 6-9 record. Yet Phoenix put ESM behind 30-21 by halftime and, despite 16 points from Luciani, the Spartans could not rally. Kaylee May (17 points), Alyssa Cassano and Brittney Sears (12 points each) led the Firebirds as it kept post-season hopes alive. J-D’s girls, on that same night, clinched a winning record by edging Fulton 50-45. They went to halftime even, 17-17, but the Red Rams outscored the Red Raiders 18-12 in the third period and would hang on. Goodrum had, arguably, her best game yet at the varsity level, finishing with 22 points. Ariel Mussi and Katie Maroney both had seven points, while Lauren Beville finished with six points. Another split happened Tuesday against Fowler – only this time it was the ESM girls winning 45-36 over the Falcons and the boys taking a 64-57 defeat. From a 10-10 tie, the girls Spartans got away from Fowler by outscoring them 29-15 over the next two periods. Maselli, with nine points, led a balanced offense where Danielle Russo and Brooke Gilkey each got eight points. Becky Nelson and Hailee DeForge each had six points. On Syracuse’s West Side, ESM’s boys could not recover from falling behind 32-19 in the first half, despite a late push that saw Nero (12 points) and Placito (11 points) hit double figures. Sullivan had eight points, with Greco adding seven points as Campese and Johnson got six points apiece.