(Jamestown now sits alone atop the standings in ECIC I)

 

For the first eight minutes of the big showdown in ECIC I between Williamsville North and the Red Raiders, it looked like the fans that nearly filled the massive "Mac" in Jamestown were in for a Friday night thriller.  If you watched the second half without a scoreboard, it would have looked like a very competitive game.  But the scoreboard showed the Spartans trailing by double figures the entire second half.   Thanks to a dominant second quarter by the home team, the game never reached the exciting level it potentially had, a credit to the defending state finalists in Class AA, who knew how to play with a lead and finish.

 

Stephen Carlson scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Zack Panebianco added 19 points, as the Red Raiders won comfortably over visiting Williamsville North, 63-47.  The win puts Jamestown in sole possession of first place in ECIC I, and the current top seed in Class AA sectional bracket.

 

Just over a minute into the contest, the Spartans two go-to scorer's, Dylan Lambert & Maceo Jack, had each connected from the perimeter, and North was quickly out to a 6-0 lead.  A few possessions later, Zacc Kinsey penetrated and kicked to sophomore James Rojas, who connected from downtown, cutting the North advantage to 8-7.  At that point, both teams were moving the ball well and neither squad seemed to have any edge.  Lambert scored the final basket of the quarter for the Spartans, giving them the early 12-10 lead after one.

 

"The first quarter they were getting some good looks and I didn't think we did a good job communicating in the zone", Jamestown coach Ben Drake said.

 

"We switched to our matchup zone and pretty much stuck with it the rest of the game", Drake said.  "We made them earn their points after that".

 

The Spartans would only earn seven points over the next eight minutes, while allowing 22 to the Red Raiders.  Panebianco quickly got the game tied to start the second quarter, and on the ensuing possession, Ben Larson struck from 3-point land to give Jamestown the lead for good.  It ignited a 16-2 run, that saw Carlson scored a pair of buckets in the paint and Rojas connect from in close, before Larson put the finishing touches on the scoring surge with another trey and then a strong drive to the hole.  Shortly after, Carlson netted another in the post and then Rojas canned a corner 3-pointer, making it 31-15 with under a minute to play in the half.

 

"Ben was key during that stretch, hitting those threes and then those couple of buckets", said Drake.

 

In the second half, Williamsville North hovered around a 15-point deficit and never got closer than 11 points, which occurred right at the start of the third.  The third quarter belonged to Carlson, who scored 1o points in the frame, including the last nine for his team in the stanza.  Then over the final eight minutes, Jamestown put the ball in Panebianco's hands, as he went 7/8 from the free throw stripe and scored 13 of his 19 points to thwart any hope the Spartans had of climbing back into the game.

 

"Stephen was just a beast inside", Drake said.  "He's been a great 1-2 punch with Zack".

 

"They played great 'D' on Zack", Drake said.  "When they doubled him on the perimeter, we were able to find Stephen inside and he did a great job finishing".

 

Larson and Rojas each finished with 10 points for Jamestown.

 

Jack led the Spartans with 20 points, while Lambert added 12 points.

 

The rematch at Williamsville North is Thursday, February 19th at 5:30 pm.  The Spartans have a chance to win out and earn a share of first place in the league.

 

-centercourt