In yet another installment of the Jamestown vs. Niagara Falls rivalry at Buffalo State University, it was the Red & Green who headed home happy.
Jaydian Johnson’s 25 points led No. 1 Jamestown to a 63-49 win over No. 2 Niagara Falls as they claimed the Section VI Class AAA title Saturday afternoon.
It’s the Red & Green’s third sectional title in four years and their first in Class AAA.
“It’s kind of a longstanding rivalry, we always seem to meet up here,” said Jamestown head coach Bill Miley. “We knew it would be tough, it was kind of back-and-forth for a while. We were fortunate to come out on top in the end.”
Jamestown (18-3) jumped out to a quick 13-3 advantage in the first quarter, but Niagara Falls battled back to take their first lead of the game in the early second on a John Strong 3-pointer.
A 3-point play from Johnson midway through the second quarter helped tip the game back in Jamestown’s favor, as they embarked on a 12-4 run into halftime that put them up 31-27.
The back-and-forth theme continued well into the second half, with both teams trading buckets. While Niagara Falls (11-9) couldn’t seem to get within one possession of the Red & Green, Jamestown couldn’t pull away, either.
Finally, the dagger came: a corner 3-pointer from Johnson with two minutes to play that extended the Red & Green lead back up to 10. It was a clutch and redeeming shot from a player who vividly remembered when his team fell to Niagara Falls in the Class AA title game two years ago.
“We lost my sophomore year and it felt good to get back, it means a lot to win my senior year,” Johnson said. “We just wanted the game more and it led to a lot of open shots.”
Right behind Johnson was Jamestown’s Elijah Farmer (16 points) and Dominic Gonzalez (12 points). The trio have been massive for the Red & Green all season, averaging 55.3 points per game combined.
If they are to repeat last year’s run to the state semifinals or go even further, it will likely be them leading the way.
“We’ve really rid them all year, they’ve done a great job,” Miley said.
“We thought they would maybe try to take away Dom and Jaydian a little bit, and they did that early on. They didn’t rush, they didn’t force things, they found some open guys early and we ended up making them get out of it and went to a zone. We were able to still find some good shots and pull away.”
In his final game with the Wolverines, Strong did everything he could to will his team forward. His floater in the early fourth quarter brought Niagara Falls within four, the closest they would come in the second half.
Strong scored eight of his game-high 26 points in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to get Niagara Falls back in front.
“Their three scorers, we tried to limit them, but I think they did a little too much,” said Niagara Falls head coach Carlos Bradberry. “(John Strong) has been great, he’s had a great career. He’s been a great leader this year. … He’s not a natural scorer and we asked him to score this year and he really stepped up today and tried to put us on his back.”
Jamestown advances to the Far West Regionals in Class AAA, where they will square off with the winner of the Section V title game between Rush-Henrietta and Fairport.
“At this point, it’s never going to be easy,” Miley said. “But we do the things you want to do, I think we’ve certainly got a good chance.”
The Class AAA Far West Regional matchup is set for 7:45 p.m. Friday at Gates Chili High School.
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