Jamestown’s Jaral Farmer and Jaydian Johnson share an embrace after the Red & Green defeated Rush-Henrietta 69-64 in the Class AAA Far West Regional on Friday at Gates-Chili High School.
P-J photo by Scott Kindberg
ROCHESTER — Jamestown is returning to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association final four for the second consecutive season.
And, if given the chance, senior Jaydian Johnson and junior Dominic Gonzalez could probably take turns driving the bus to Binghamton next week, because the spectacular guard tandem certainly knew how to seize the figurative wheel Friday night when Coach Billy Miley needed them the most.
“I loved our energy, we stuck to our game plan, we moved the basketball, everybody kind of did their role for us,” Miley said. “We talked about being great in their role and everybody was today.”
Miley’s backcourt was better than great.
Johnson poured in 29 points, grabbed five rebounds, dished out nine assists and collected three steals, while Gonzalez added 22 points, including a 45-foot 3-pointer off the glass at the halftime buzzer, to lead the & Green to a 69-64 victory over Rush-Henrietta of Section V in the Class AAA Far West Regional at Gates-Chili High School.
Jamestown’s Jaydian Johnson puts up a shot in the lane in between three Rush-Henrietta defenders during the Class AAA Far West Regional on Friday at Gates-Chili High School.
P-J photo by Scott Kindberg
The win advances Jamestown (19-3) into the state semifinal at 7:45 p.m. Thursday at Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Binghamton against either Section VIII’s Port Washington or Section XI’s Half Hollow East. Meanwhile, the Royal Comets suffered their second loss of the season to the Red & Green and finished 20-3.
Playing before a large crowd, Miley’s crew didn’t appear at all unnerved, particularly Johnson and Gonzalez, who scored 17 points apiece in the first half, staking Jamestown to a 20-10 lead after the first quarter and a 12-point advantage midway through the second period. But Rush-Henrietta used an 8-2 surge just before halftime, closing the gap to 32-27 following a jumper by Avery Council (30 points) with a minute remaining.
Johnson and Gonzalez didn’t flinch one bit.
With 4.7 seconds left before the break, Johnson was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws. Then — in what turned out to be the play of the game — Gonzalez picked off Rush-Henrietta’s ensuing inbounds pass and let fly with a shot from well beyond the arc.
Guess what?
Jamestown’s Dominic Gonzalez drives for a layup during the Class AAA Far West Regional against Rush-Henrietta on Friday at Gates-Chili High School.
P-J photo by Scott Kindberg
He banked it in at the buzzer, sending the euphoric Red & Green sprinting into the locker room with a 38-27 lead. In less than five seconds, a five-point lead had ballooned into an 11-point advantage.
“I just jumped the pass,” Gonzalez said. “I’ve always had the soft touch and got it off the backboard.”
Momentum was clearly on the Section VI champions side and it carried over after halftime.
In fact, through the first four minutes of the third quarter, Jamestown had its way, pushing the margin to 47-31 thanks to a layup by junior Jericho Thagard, a 3-pointer by Johnson, a Gonzalez layup on a pass from Johnson, and a putback by junior Elijah Farmer (13 points).
The Royal Comets responded with an 11-0 run of their own — 7 of them by Jalen Taggert (22 points) — to trim the deficit to 47-42, but once again the Red & Green closed the period with a flurry, outscoring Rush-Henrietta 9-2, courtesy of a layup by junior Gavin Johnson, a floater by Gonzalez, a jumper by Jaydian Johnson and a 3-pointer by Farmer.
The Red & Green’s Elijah Farmer attempts to score.
P-J photo by Scott Kindberg
Council scored at the third-quarter buzzer, but Jamestown’s lead was still 56-44 with eight minutes remaining.
It proved to be just enough.
Behind Council and Taggert, the Royal Comets closed to within 60-55 with 3:19 remaining, giving their vocal home following some belief in a comeback, but Jaydian Johnson drilled a huge 3-pointer — his fifth of the night — followed by a free throw from James Jackson and a layup by Farmer on an assist from Jaydian Johnson. Armed with a 66-55 lead with 1:23 left, the Red Green held on for the win.
For Jaydian Johnson, the win sending Jamestown to its fifth final four in school history, was emotional enough, but he turned in the brilliant performance despite playing with a heavy heart following the passing of his uncle, Paul Snyder, last week.
“He was on my mind every day,” he said. “It’s hard. I just tried to push through it. I told my team last year we’d go back to states and win it all. We’re going to do it for him.”
Added Gonzalez: “I just tried to comfort (Jaydian) and let him know it was going to be alright, and he came out and did his thing. I know his uncle was watching over him.”
Now it’s on to Binghamton. Miley hopes his team will be able to “step up” yet again.
“The moment was never too big,” he said.
Especially for Jaydian and Dom.
NOTES: As a team, the Red & Green shot 25 of 46 from the floor, including 9 of 22 from the arc, while Rush-Henrietta was 26 of 65, including 7 of 24 from distance. … Between them, Jaydian Johnson, Gonzalez and Farmer shot 23 of 39 from the field. … Farmer also grabbed 13 rebounds. … If Jamestown wins its state semifinal on Thursday, it would play for the championship at 7:45 p.m. next Friday.
JAMESTOWN (69)
Farmer 6 0 13, Gonzalez 9 1 22, Thagard 1 0 2, Panebianco 0 0 0, JJohnson 8 8 29, GJohnson 1 0 2, Jackson 0 1 1. Totals 25 10 69.
RUSH-HENRIETTA (64)
Brown 3 0 6, Taggert 8 1 22, Council 13 2 30, Abdul-Haqq 2 0 4, Tahah 0 2 2. Totals 26 5 64.
3-point goals — Farmer, Gonzalez 3, JJohnson 5, Taggert 5, Council 2.
Jamestown 20 18 18 13 — 69
Rush-Henrietta 10 17 17 20 — 64
