BY STEPHEN BRICKLER
GATES, N.Y. — Senior guard Jaydian Johnson scored 29 points while junior guard Dominic Gonzalez added 22 to lead Jamestown of Section VI to a 69-64 win over Rush-Henrietta in the Class AAA Far West Regional at Gates-Chili High School on Friday night.
The Red and Green never trailed in the game despite numerous runs by the Royal Comets to claw their way back into the game.
“Jamestown shot the ball well, they moved the ball well. We kind of let some things slip on our end”, said Rush-Henrietta Coach Calvin Betts. “It’s hard right now.”
Jamestown scored the first 5 points of the game while the Royal Comets struggled to finish at the rim early on, a struggle that continued throughout the game.
“Shots just didn’t fall tonight. They played extremely hard. They fought. They could have easily gave up”, said Betts of his team’s performance.
Jalen Taggart answered for RH with 5 points of his own to tie the score.
Johnson and Gonzalez started to find their range from the perimeter for Jamestown, each hitting a triple to pull the Red and Green to an 11-7 lead. Taggart again responded with a long three to make the score 11-10. The Royal Comets would never get as close for the remainder of the game.
Jamestown center Elijah Farmer (13 points) started a quarter ending 9-0 run with a basket down low followed by Johnson’s third triple of the quarter. Gonzalez then worked his way into the lane for back-to-back floaters over the outstretched arms of RH big man Amir Abdul-Haqq-Bradford to take a 10 point lead at the end of one.
“We jumped out to a little bit of a lead and they kept coming back and we didn’t back down and every time we needed a play, someone would step up and make a shot”, said Jamestown Coach Bill Miley. “We were fortunate enough to be able to hold them off at the end.”
The second quarter saw Avery Council find his way into the lane to get to the rim or pull up for short jumpers. He scored the first 5 points of the quarter to get the Royal Comets back to within two possessions. Jamestown extended its lead again by scoring 10 of the next 14 points, all by Johnson and Gonzalez.
Council continued to take over the scoring load for the Royal Comets in the last half of the second quarter scoring 8 straight for RH only interrupted by a Gonzalez deuce in between. Council finished with a team high 27 for Rush-Henrietta.
Back within five, the Royal Comets looked poised to go into the locker room well within striking distance, but a 6-0 sequence for the Red and Green in the last 7 seconds of the half provided Jamestown with a double-digit lead at the break.
With the game clock winding down and the Royal Comets’ defense making a good look difficult, Johnson forced a foul on a three-point shot and made all three of the ensuing free throws. RH, looking to get one last shot before the half, turned the ball over at midcourt. Gonzalez received a pass well past the arc and heaved up a three-point shot at the buzzer that banked in to give Jamestown an 11-point margin.
Jamestown continued to extend its lead in the opening minutes of the third quarter, stretching their advantage to sixteen at one point. But the Royal Comets, as they had done all season, found a way to get back into the game with an 11-0 run sparked by two triples and a free throw from Taggart who finished with 23 points on the night. Back within 5, the Comets had a couple of chances to trim the margin further but a couple of turnovers and shots that wouldn’t fall at the rim prevented them from making it a one possession game.
Once again, the five point difference is where Jamestown would gather themselves and find a way to get double digit separation again, this time using a 9-0 run late in the third quarter, highlighted by a coast-to-coast run up court by Gonzalez through three defenders who then finished the play with another high floater in the lane. Council scored at the rim to end the third stanza with the Red and Green up 56-44.
The Royal Comets turned up the defensive pressure in the fourth quarter and were able to turn over the Red and Green early in the fourth. Taggart and Council provided the conversions on the offensive end scoring 5 and 6 points respectively to get RH back to within five again at 60-55.
But as they had all night, Jamestown had an answer whenever the Royal Comets looked to have momentum. Johnson led a 6-0 spurt with a triple, the last of his five on the night for the Red and Green.
“They would make a shot. Johnson hit some huge shots during the game and I take my hat off to them. They’re a pretty good team”, said Betts about Jamestown’s ability to pull away whenever his team got within striking distance.
“It’s something we pride ourselves on and against a team like that, baskets down low were going to be tough to come by so we were able to get some open looks and were able to knock them down, especially early on”, said Miley of his team’s nine made triples on the night.
Despite finding itself down double digits on multiple occasions, Betts said he expected his team to come back and win as they had on several occasions this season. “We told our guys we’re not out of it. We felt that if we picked up our defense a little bit more and kept pushing, we could cut the lead, which we did,”
The Royal Comets continued to fight as Jahquin Brown (8 points) hit back-to-back buckets in the lane, but Jamestown hit its free throws to close out the game to end the Royal Comets’ historic season.
“I loved our energy. I loved how we stuck to the gameplan, moved the basketball and everybody kind of did their role for us. We talk about being great in your role and everybody was today”, said Miley postgame.
The Royal Comets finished the season at 20-3, making it’s first state tournament appearance since 1994. Two of the three losses they incurred were at the hands of Jamestown, the other to Class AA State representative Athena.
“I’m extremely proud of my guys. Extremely proud of the season we had. They gave it everything they had. First sectional championship in 14 years. We have some guys coming back (starters Taggart, Council and Talhah Ali return). What I take from this is that I hope they feel it. I hope they feel what they saw right now and what they feel right now”, said Betts.
“I want to make sure that all of us feel this and make sure we don’t feel this way again. We’ll be back though, I promise you that. We’ll be back in this moment again.”
The Red and Green (19-3) move on to the state semifinals in Binghamton next weekend to face an opponent yet to be determined.
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