Boys basketball: Jamesville-Dewitt's twin towers too much for Scotia to handle

One is 6 feet, 10 inches tall and heading to Syracuse University. The other is 6-9 and going to Wake Forest. Together, Dajuan Coleman and Tyler Cavanaugh were too much for Scotia-Glenville to handle. Coleman (Syracuse) and Cavanaugh (Wake Forest) each scored 21 points to lead Section III champion Jamesville-Dewitt past Scotia-Glenville 58-45 in Saturday's Class A boys basketball regional final at Hudson Valley Community College. The Section II-champion Tartans tried everything they could to slow the two NCAA Division I recruits, but it was a difficult task for a team whose tallest players on the court -- Chris Zanta and Joe Cremo -- are 6-2. "Their genetic structure was better than ours," said Scotia-Glenville coach James Giammattei. Still, the Tartans gave the three time-defending state champion Red Rams a battle. Scotia-Glenville led 9-7 following Alex Sausville's first three-pointer of the game late in the first quarter and trailed Jamesville-Dewitt 26-19 at halftime after Cremo hit a layup with three seconds left in the second quarter. "The Scotia kids defended well," said Jamesville-Dewitt coach Bob McKenney. "They were tough. They bumped and hit us, and they took us out of our running game." "When it was 26-19, that was the pace that we needed the game to be at," said Giammattei. "We knew we weren't going to beat them 80-74." The Red Rams didn't allow the Tartans to hang around in the second half, though. Cavanaugh opened the third quarter with a three-pointer to push Jamesville-Dewitt's lead to 10 points, and that opened the flood gates as the Red Rams outscored Scotia-Glenville 23-7 in the period. "I think it too us a while to get the nerves out and get our legs," said McKenney. Cavanaugh and Coleman led Jamesville-Dewitt's second half surge. When Cavanaugh wasn't slicing and shooting his way through Scotia-Glenville's two-three zone defense, Coleman was slamming down dunk after dunk. "Cavanaugh is a very refined player, (but) he's 6-10 and he's doing things that most forwards can't do," Giammattei said of Coleman, who also hauled in 15 rebounds. Scotia-Glenville tried to find open looks for its shooters, but Jamesville-Dewitt maintained its defensive form and controlled the lane. That left the Tartans passing the ball around the perimeter and forcing up long shots that didn't drop on a regular basis. "That's where we've been very fortunate this year," said McKenney. "Many of the teams back home (around Syracuse) have been doing that this year. We've talked about maintaining our defensive composure (when opponents work the shot clock down with passes)." Sausville and Cremo were Scotia-Glenville's most consistent shooters when they had open looks. Sausville drained four three-pointers for a team-high 12 points, while Cremo made 5-of-8 shots from inside the three-point arc to finish with 10 points. "His four threes were big -- big for Sausville," said Giammattei of his sophomore guard. "He kept us in the game (in the first half)." In the end, though, it's Jamesville-Dewitt that is heading to Glens Falls for next weekend's state tournament -- thanks to its dynamic duo of Coleman and Cavanaugh. "We're looking forward to it," said McKenney. "We'll take a couple of days off and then hit them hard in practice. We've got Tappan Zee in the semifinals, and they're a great defensive team."

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Boys basketball: Jamesville-Dewitt's twin towers too much for Scotia to handle

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