Coming into last night's game, Jamestown was 11-0 in ECIC I and looking to claim the league championship outright.  But the task of beating Williamsville North a second time still loomed, something the Red Raiders hadn't done twice in a season since 2012.  The Spartans entered the game having scored 86 & 95 points in their previous two outings, so slowing their offensive output was a priority for the Red Raiders.  After all, defense wins championships.

 

Jamestown took a second quarter lead it never gave back, tightening down the clamps defensively, in a 49-46 win over the host Spartans.  The victory gives the Red Raiders the ECIC I title and the top seed in the upcoming Class AA sectionals, after finishing the season 16-3 overall and 12-0 in league.

 

"I like the way we're playing, especially in the defensive end, and if we play good defense, I think we'll be right there in the end", Jamestown coach Ben Drake.

 

Williamsville North led the entire first quarter, after getting their top scorers, Dylan Lambert and Maceo Jack, going early.  The duo each canned a '3' and finished with five points each after the opening frame, to get North out a 12-9 start.

 

Baskets from Sean Hill and Jack extended the Spartans lead to 16-9, the largest they'd enjoy in the game, two minutes into the second quarter.  After two scoreless minutes of play, Zack Panebianco struck from long range for his first points of the game.  The 3-ball sparked a surge from his team, as Noah Johnson came off the bench to follow it with another 3-pointer, followed by buckets from Zacc Kinsey and Stephen Carlson, all part of a 10-0 run that put Jamestown in front.  They'd never trail again.

 

A three-point play from Chad Steinwachs tied the game for North at 21 apiece to start the second half, but it would be the closest they would get for the duration.  A 6-1 Jamestown run followed, including a lob from Kinsey to Carlson, which ended with a two-handed flush at the rim.  Carlson scored eight points in the quarter, including the last six for his team heading into the fourth, giving the Red Raiders a 34-27 advantage.

 

Jamestown's lead reached eight points in the final stanza, its largest of the contest, when Panebianco buried deep trey from somewhere between the three-point arc and the half court line.  The teams literally traded points over the next five minutes, with North making up some ground with a trey from Jack, a missed Jamestown free throw, and a basket from Steinwachs at the buzzer, but never really threatened to overtake the Red Raiders in the closing minutes, as they were able to answer each score.

 

"I knew this was going to be a dog fight", said Drake.  "Give Will North credit – they played good defense, they're tall & long and take up a lot of space and there just didn't seem to be a lot of openings".

 

"Luckily, our defense was real good tonight too and did a good job of defending Lambert and Jack, and made them earn their points", Drake said.

 

The Spartans limited the 2014 CC MVP, Panebianco, to just nine points in the game, with a concerted effort to slow the standout's offensive production.

 

"It's a real good team win because while they were playing good 'D' on Zack, we had different guys step up and make some plays", Drake said. "That's important moving forward because teams obviously know who Zack is".

 

Carlson finished the evening with a game-high 16 points, while Ben Larson scored 10 points, and Kinsey chipped in seven points.

 

Jack led North in scoring with 15 points, Lambert finished with 11 points, and Steinwachs added nine points.

-centercourt