While in the pursuit of larger goals, it’s important to note the milestones along the way that the Jamesville-DeWitt girls basketball team continues to rack up.
With Saturday night’s 76-61 victory over Indian River in the Carrier Dome, the Red Rams made it seven consecutive Section III Class AA titles, even if it was a far cry from the smooth, one-sided efforts J-D had to rout Watertown and CBA earlier in the sectional tournament.
To win again, the Rams needed a bench spark in the early going from Kasey Vaughan and Paige Keeler, which made up for foul trouble to other key players like Meg Hair. It also had to overcome a superlative effort from IR senior Paige Leonard, who poured in 34 points, the most any individual has scored against J-D all season.
The Rams and Warriors were supposed to play Friday night, but the massive winter snowfall pushed it back 24 hours. By the time J-D did take the court, things did not go that smoothly at the outset.
Only up by a point, 8-7, midway through the first quarter, J-D began to take over as Vaughan smothered IR’s ball-handlers on defense and then, on the other end, hit on three 3-pointers late in the period.
For Vaughan, a varsity player for J-D since eighth grade, it was particularly sweet to play big in a sectional title game since she missed most of last year’s state Class A title run due to injury.
“Sitting and watching last year was hard,” said Vaughan. “So I had unfinished business. Once I hit that first shot, I felt real confident.”
Vaughan had 11 of her 13 points in the first half, and Keeler stepped up with six points when Hair went to the bench with three fouls. All of this helped push J-D to a 50-23 lead early in the third quarter.
Yet Leonard made sure her Warriors didn’t get blown out. With her series of strong moves to the basket, Leonard sparked a 13-2 run that, at the very least, forced the Rams to play all four quarters.
Still, J-D closed the quarter with nine straight points to make it 65-41, too much for IR to overcome.
Jamie Boeheim, playing for the first time in a game on the court named for her father, was a steady paint presence all night, ultimately producing a team-high 21 points. Hair, despite her limited minutes, matched Vaughan’s total of 13 points as Gabby Stickle got 11 points.
If J-D can get past Massena on Wednesday night at SUNY-Potsdam, it will have yet another Class A regional showdown with Section II power Averill Park next Saturday at noon at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, with a berth in the state final four on that same HVCC court at stake.
Vaughan said that Averill Park is similar in many ways to J-D, and that a game with them would require every bit of the Rams’ effort to get through, especially since AP is bent on avenging four previous regional game defeats.