By Bora Nanaj
Staff Writer
The Jamesville-DeWitt High School Varsity Girls Basketball team started off their 2013-2014 season with a 58 – 31 victory win over Fulton High School On Dec. 3. “It’s still early in our season, but we’re looking good,” said senior Olivia Cargain. This year’s team is very young with only two seniors and two juniors. There are also two eighth graders on the team. Senior Kara Gantos calls the team “inexperienced” right now but says “as the season goes on we’ll flow more as a team.” Cargain believes that age doesn’t affect the team because “there’s a pretty good team chemistry.”
Juniors and co-captains Alyssa Robens and Maddy Frank believe that their toughest teams to beat are Nottingham, Fayetteville-Manlius and West Genesee High Schools. Frank says these teams are the hardest to beat because “they’re all AA schools and have a lot of good players.” Robens said Nottingham will be the hardest to beat because “they’ve all played together before and they have lots of skills and good size.” Cargain disagrees and thinks Christian Brothers Academy will be the toughest to beat because they are the team’s rival. The Lady Rams beat the Brothers in a 56 – 43 victory on Friday, Dec. 6.
Looking into the future, the team has many goals for the season. “We’re hoping to be undefeated and make it to the sectional finals at least,” said Robens. Gantos, Frank and Cargain all believe they will make sectionals and have a good shot at the championship. “This year the league isn’t very good so we should definitely make it,” said Gantos. “You never know though,” she added. Their next game is Dec. 10 at 5:30 p.m. against Chittenango in the J-DHS Main Gym.
The J-D/CBA Wrestling team has also started the season off on a great note. They beat Homer 51 to 31 on Dec. 4. Senior Zack Hatem believes the team will have a good season. “We’ve competed well in tournaments and matches. We should win the sectional tournament,” Hatem said. Senior George Kassis also agrees that the team has the potential to win the sectional championship.
Another good note was senior and captain Ben Honis being named Athlete of the Week by NewsChannel 9 Sports.
“The toughest teams to beat are always Fulton and Phoenix,” said Honis. “They’ve always had good programs,” he added. Hatem agrees with Honis and called Fulton’s team “a powerhouse.” However, Kassis has a different team in mind. He thinks that Baldwinsville High School will be the hardest team to beat. “They’re our rival this year. Last year, they beat us in sectionals by a few points. We want payback,” Kassis said.
The team has many goals for the season. “Individually my goal is to win states,” said Honis. “As a team, our goal is to make it to the Sectional III dual meet tournament,” he added. Hatem also has high goals for the team. “We should be in the top three at least,” Hatem said. Their next match is against Fulton in the J-DHS Auxiliary Gym on Dec. 11 at 6 p.m.