By Jim Stout
MaxPreps.com
Forget about the thrill of playing on a college campus. Forget about Manley Field House. Forget about New York State's top-ranked Class A team for the remainder of the 2000-07 season.
Jamesville-Dewitt is finished in Section III.
Fourth-seeded New Hartford, which lost to Jamesville-Dewitt by 19 points during the regular season, rode the scoring of Ron Evans and Mike Kelly and the play of its defense to a 59-49 upset of J-D in the Section III semifinals at Syracuse University's Manley Field House last Friday.
Jamesville-Dewitt (20-2), which has had to play in recent weeks without super sophomore Brandon Triche, held the early lead at 22-17, but was limited to 27 points over the final three quarters. J-D committed 21 turnovers as New Hartford (19-4) tinkered with the game's tempo and continually frustrated the Red Rams.
"Defensively, we turned it up," New Hartford coach John Randall told the Syracuse Post-Standard. "The kids got focused and we really didn't allow many second-chance points. In the second half, we slowed the transition game and made it a half-court game."
"We didn't take care of the ball," J-D coach Bob McKenney said. "They (New Hartford) were quicker to the ball and they took us out of our game. I tip my hat to New Hartford."
Both Jamesville-Dewitt losses this season came at Manley. The Rams lost to Class AA Niagara Falls and Syracuse recruit Jonny Flynn, 81-75, back on Dec. 17.
When J-D beat New Hartford by 81-62 on Dec. 1, Triche scored 26 points and had eight assists. Triche was later KO'd for the season by a knee injury.
Alex Prue added 10 points and six rebounds for New Hartford to complement Evans and Kelly, both of whom scored 17 points. The trio combined to score 44 of New Hartford's 59 points.
"Coming into the game, we knew J-D had big weapons," Evans said. "We prepared all week. Tonight we switched up defenses and had the advantage of pushing the ball. This allowed us to get the victory."
New Hartford thus advances to Section III final, where it will face sixth-seeded Cortland on Saturday. Cortland upset No. 2 Indian River, 58-47, in the other Class A semifinal. Joel White scored a game-high 36 points, including a school-record eight 3-pointers for Cortland.
Aquinas Escapes With Second-Half Rally
In Section V, top-seeded Aquinas of Rochester wasn't upset the way Jamesville-Dewitt was, but the Little Irish came close to falling out early in their second-round game against No. 8 Marshall.
Down by 17 points in the third quarter, Aquinas rallied to force overtime, then took the lead for good with 2:26 left in the extra session to escape with a 61-56 win, improving its record to 20-1.
Aquinas junior Todd Wingate, a 6-foot-1 forward, led all scorers with 15 points, including a 3-pointer after spending most of the game near the basket.
Marshall (13-8) led by 54-52 in overtime when D.J. Wing hit his third and final 3-pointer to put Aquinas ahead. Wing added a pair of free throws to finish with 14 points.
"We just had to stay calm, work hard and make the shots when we needed to," Wing told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle.
Though Aquinas scored just 13 points in the first half, it had allowed only 27, giving the Little Irish hope.
"We just couldn't make a shot,'' said Aquinas coach Mike Grosodonia. "We told the kids that we were going to shoot better, and that we had to rebound. We only had two offensive rebounds in the first half. There were a couple of times where their players ripped the ball from our hands. But all the credit goes to the kids.''
Aquinas faces fourth-seeded Wilson-Magnet in the sectional semis.
Olean Cruises; Moore Sets Mark
There's a good reason why Olean is ranked No. 1 in the state in Class B.
The Huskies can play. Ditto for Zach Moore.
Moore scored 25 points and became the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,600 points as Olean crushed Fredonia, 69-24, in a Section VI quarterfinal game.
"Every player who wore an Olean uniform tonight played the game 25 miles an hour faster than we did," Fredonia coach Dave Polechetti told the Olean Times Herald. "Jeff (Olean coach Jeff Anastasia) was kind. He could have won this thing by 90."
Anastasia (344-101 in 20 years at Olean) substituted freely after the third quarter.
Olean forced 19 turnovers, held Fredonia (8-13) to 10-of-57 shooting and easily won the rebounding battle by 49-18.
Moore surpassed Plattsburgh State guard Dennis Turner on Olean's all-time scoring list late in the third quarter.
"I'm proud of this accomplishment," said Moore, a 6-foot-3 swing player who also had seven rebounds and three steals. "I have to thank my teammates for getting the ball to me a lot."
Brockport Upsets Brighton
Brockport emerged as another eighth-seeded team that scored an upset win as it beat Brighton on the road, 43-31, in a Class AA Section V game. Senior Adam Werner scored 12 points and made four of six free throws down the stretch for Brockport.
"Nobody thought we could win this, but we knew we could," Werner told the Democrat & Chronicle. "I don't even really remember what happened at the end, it all happened so fast, but we ended up winning and it feels great."
The Blue Devils (9-13) led by three in the final seconds when Joe Reed went to the free throw line for Brighton (17-4). He made the first and tried to miss the second, but accidentally it banked in.
Werner was quickly fouled and went to the line with 2.4 seconds left. He made the first shot and missed the second. Brandon Brechue pulled down the rebound to seal the win.
"Right now we're just ecstatic," said Brockport coach Charlie Hage. "It was a total team effort, 100 percent a team effort. Our bench did a very nice job. Everyone contributed and communicated and we came out on top."
Corning West Downs East to Continue Run
The unlikely success of Corning West continued in the quarterfinals of the Class A Section IV tournament.
After upsetting Elmira Southside in its first game, Corning West reached the sectional championship game at Broome County Arena by knocking off rival and third-seeded Corning East, 49-46. The win was the fourth in the last six games for a West team that stood a mere 3-11 in late January.
"I'll let them feel good about themselves tonight and tomorrow and Monday we're back to business," West coach Mike Johnston Jr. told the Corning Leader. "They're pretty focused, they know what they want and they've shown they know how to get it."
"(West) has some very proud seniors who have taken their lumps over the years and they finally got a crack at us and beat us," said East coach Bill Hopkins. "People are probably going to snicker at their losing record, but that doesn't indicate the pride those kids hold."
Corning West, the second lowest seed in the Class A tournament, will take on No. 1 Elmira Free Academy at Broome Arena on Thursday.
Long-Awaited Trip to County Center For Nanuet
Class B Nauset will play in the Section I semifinals at the Westchester County Center for the first time in program history after beating Rye, 62-54, in the quarterfinals.
To help motivate and focus his team this season, Nanuet coach Dave Masterson had saved a ticket from last year's tournament at the County Center for his players to mull over.
"Pat Friel brought (the ticket) to the game, but we don't need it anymore," Masterson told the Journal News. "We ripped it up tonight because we'll be able to go for free."
Dylan Hofsiss scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds for Nanuet, while reserve Kevin Opoku-Gyamfi matched a season high with 10 points and seven rebounds for No. 3 Nanuet (16-5). Rye standout Liam McCabe-Moran scored 18 points, but recorded just four points in the second half on 1-of-10 shooting for the sixth-seeded Garnets.
Nanuet, which joined Section 1 for the 1984-85 season, won three titles in Section 9 - the last in 1975 - and advanced to the semifinals in 2005, but had to play at Yorktown High because of a scheduling conflict with the County Center.
Rivera Gives Farrell a Lift Into CHSAA Semis
Monsignor Farrell of Staten Island reached the prestigious CHSAA semifinals at Christ the King in Queens on Friday night as it knocked off Archbishop Molloy, 66-64, in overtime in a quarterfinal game at Holy Cross.
Stephen Rivera, best known as a defensive specialist at Farrell, sent the game to OT with a basket with 0.4 seconds remaining in regulation, then scored the game-winner with 14.6 showing.
Farrell will play Holy Cross in the first game of the CHSAA semifinals, a game that will be followed by St. Raymond's vs. Bishop Loughlin.
Rivera said he was looking to feed his Siena-bound center, Ryan Rossiter, in the final seconds of OT, but took the shot himself when he was left open.
"I was going to pass to the big guy, but they were denying him," Rivera told the New York Daily News. "I was wide open, so I took it."
Long Elusive Title Goes to Rondout Valley
Rondout Valley won its first Mid Hudson Athletic League championship by beating Millbrook, 69-53, at SUNY-New Paltz. The victory came just a day after Rondout Valley ended Red Hook's five-year stranglehold on the title in the semifinal round.
Rondout hadn't won a league championship of any kind since former coach Chick Meehan had led the Ganders to the Ulster County Athletic League crown in 1968.
"This is an unbelievable feeling, not only to me and my players, but to the community who has waited so long for this," Rondout coach Jim Malak told the Kingston Daily Freeman. "This is for them."
Rondout is seeded fourth for this week's Class A Section IX tournament, behind Cornwall, Red Hook and Saugerties. The Ganders play host to fifth-seeded New Paltz at 6 p.m. Wednesday, with a possible game against Cornwell - ranked No. 5 in the state in Class A - to follow.
"We were hoping for a higher seed, but we'll be ready to go for the sectionals," Rondout's Nick Mason said. "We'll enjoy this, but we'll be ready and focused to play New Paltz."
Championship Games to be Televised
Time Warner Cable has announced plans to provide live television coverage of the New York State boys championships from the Glens Falls Civic Center. Each of the games will be aired on Time Warner Cable Sports Channel 26 in both Syracuse and Binghamton. The championship games are scheduled for March 17 and 18.
Coverage will also feature up-to-the-minute highlights from the girl's championships, which will be played in Troy.
Jim Stout is the MaxPreps.com Master Photographer for the Massachusetts/Rhode Island area and a Northeast Region columnist. He may be reached at 203-563-2297 or at j.stout@jmstout.org.
