CENTRAL NEW YORK – Three of the area’s high school girls basketball teams had lost games in the first game of December and were quite desperate to gain back some momentum. In the case of Jamesville-DeWitt it involved taking on its neighbors from East Syracuse Minoa last Tuesday night and doing just enough, especially on defense in the late stages, to get a 53-51 win over the Spartans. The entire first half involved scoring runs from both ends. Neither could separate, and J-D led 35-33 at the break only to quiet in the third quarter enough to have ESM grab a 46-43 advantage. Yet all the Spartans could managed in the fourth quarter was five points, which allowed J-D to retake the lead and ultimately keep it despite its own late scoring struggles. Sadie Withers, with 14 points, and Ava Sandroni, with 13 points, paced the Rams. Samantha Wheeler got nine points and Lindsay Parker seven points. ESM again leaned on Aniyah Jones, who led all scorers with 24 points as Lydia Butterfield added eight points. Two nights later, these same Spartans lost 69-47 to Marcellus, who held Jones to eight points and was carried by a pair of 1,000-point scores who just led the girls soccer Mustangs to the state Class B championship. Cece Powell hit four 3-pointers and 12 field goals overall on her way to 31 points, while Tenly Baker, who crossed the 1,000-point mark just a week earlier, finished with 25 points. Leah Chavoustie’s 10 points paced ESM. While playing another local rival, J-D cranked up its defense to a higher level and took out Christian Brothers Academy by a score of 56-30. Neither team started strong, meaning one scoring surge would be crucial – and the Rams provided it with a 21-7 blitz through the second quarter. Sandroni pushed her way to 20 points, with Withers getting 10 points and Wheeler six points. No CBA player got close to double figures as Cara Macaluso and Liana Thomas led with just six points apiece. J-D returned from a Dec. 7-8 trip to the Buffalo area where it lost to St. Mary’s (Lancaster) 75-45 and, a day later, got closer against Rochester powerhouse Bishop Kearney yet lost 59-43. Against Kearney (who had beat Liverpool in overtime the day before), the Red Rams could not recover from getting outscored 19-4 in the second quarter. Sandroni continued to propel the J-D attack, earning 16 points, while Wheeler finished with 11 points and Withers had six points. CBA played again on Friday and lost, 52-37, to Baldwinsville, playing the Class AAA Bees to a 21-21 first-half tie only to get outscored 20-6 in the third quarter, from which it was unable to recover. Thomas still gained 17 points, matching B’ville’s Olivia Davis, while Lilah Kirch and Maya White had six points apiece, Davis helped by 11 points apiece from Maddy Polky and Natalie Hollingshead.