CENTRAL NEW YORK – Fresh off a strong week which included handing Fulton its first defeat of the season, the East Syracuse Minoa boys basketball team sought another big prize early last week, yet could not quite grab it. Jamesville-DeWitt maintained the upper hand in this long-simmering local rivalry last Monday night by making the final push and defeating the Spartans 61-53. ESM got off to a rough start, held to five points in the first quarter, but leaned on its defense to make sure that the Red Rams didn’t pull away in the game’s early stages. Only trailing 23-17 at halftime, the Spartans started hitting baskets on a consistent basis, made up the ground and found itself leading 34-33 with one period left. However, J-D reclaimed the lead in the final quarter and stayed there because it had more depth in its attack, which was led by Steve Bazile’s 14 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. Alan Zanders had 13 points and five rebounds, Nathan Johnson adding 12 points and five rebounds as Terrell Willis got nine points and Jackson Saroney seven points. Ultimately, ESM got a game-high 17 points from Tyler Quarry, 14 points from Tommy Clonan and 13 points from Anthony Bryan, but just two total field goals from the rest of the lineup. Both teams would play on Thursday night and both would win, J-D outscoring Oswego 85-78 and ESM mostly depending on big first-quarter production agains Central Square for a 72-56 victory. What the Red Rams discovered at Oswego was that the Buccaneers were far from the pushover of seasons past, with the two sides trading scoring runs throughout the night, regardless of pace. A wild third period saw J-D get 25 points but Oswego answer with 26, leaving it at 61-60 going to the final period, where it wasn’t until the closing stretch that the Rams could lock up the game. Willis nearly got a triple-double with 23 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Zanders earned 22 points and seven assists, with Bazile getting 16 points and five rebounds as Saroney added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists. Noah Bwalya (22 points) and Cam Atkinson (18 points) led the Bucs. As for the Spartans, it mostly depended on a torrid start to build its margin against Central Square, grabbing a 25-12 lead on the Redhawks by the end of the first quarter. Led by Kyle Brown (20 points) and Collin Kees (15 points) Central Square played on close to even terms the rest of the way, yet couldn’t make up ground on ESM. Again, scoring balance propelled the Spartans, with Ezra Wilson-Hefti stepping up to score 12 points, just his third game in double figures all season. Quarry also had 12 points, with Clonan and Bryant each getting 15 points. J-D stepped out of league play on Saturday and defeated Syracuse’s Institute of Technology Central 80-67. The game had a torrid pace but the Red Rams kept it up outscoring the Eagles 24-10 in the second quarter to gain control. Zanders burned ITC for 28 points, adding four assists. Bazile had 17 points and eight rebounds, Saroney gaining 16 points plus five rebounds as this trio accounted for most of J-D’s production. Harris led the Eagles with 24 points.