In other words, the Williamsville North coach wanted his talented senior captain to start shooting from distance, something he’d done earlier this week to the tune of 39 points.

The problem was Jamestown wouldn’t let him.

Sparked by a tenacious defensive effort from start to finish, the Red Raiders rolled to a 64-41 victory over the Spartans in an Erie County Interscholastic Conference Division 1 game at McElrath Gymnasium. The win, which snapped a four-game losing streak, raised Jamestown’s record to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in the league. Williamsville North fell to 6-2 and 2-2.

Leading the way for Jamestown were Demarri Jones with 21 points and seven rebounds; Elijah Rojas with12 points, seven assists and four steals; and Trey Drake with 11 points, including three makes from beyond the arc. But while the Red Raiders executed well offensively — they shot a touch under 50 percent from the field for the game — it was at the other end of the court where they were dynamite.

Jamestown’s Elijah Rojas takes the ball to the basket Thursday night. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

How good were they?

Five minutes into the first quarter, Jamestown led 13-2, and inside a minute left in the period the margin was 18-4. Only a 7-0 Spartans’ surge in the closing seconds kept the deficit manageable. Williamsville North cut the Red Raiders’ lead to four points, 23-19, midway through the second quarter, but they finished the first half on a 10-3 run and sprinted off the floor with 33-20 lead at the break.

The game plan –a 2-2-1 zone press into a really wide 2-3 zone — worked just as Jamestown coach Ben Drake had hoped, because it held Swiech to just 8 points and zero 3-pointers.

“I thought we came out with a lot of energy and great effort, and we did a really good job of finding (Swiech) in the zone,” Coach Drake said. “I just really challenged them to play with another level of energy that we haven’t played with for a couple games this year.”

Added Swierski: “When (Swiech) hits a 3, it’s almost like the rest of the team (relaxes). Jamestown did a great job. Every time he came down the floor, everybody knew where he was. We’re not fooling a whole lot of people that he’s our number-one option on offense. We have to do a better job of getting him the ball.”

Jamestown’s Jaylen Butera and Williamsville North’s Conor Murphy fight for position during Thursday’s ECIC Division 1 game at McElrath Gymnasium. P-J photo by Scott Kindberg

And just when the Spartans appeared poised to make a game of it — Swiech’s traditional three-point play and Scott Hopkins’ layup drew them to within, 37-27, a little more than two minutes into the second half — the hosts ripped off nine straight points, courtesy of three straight postups by Jones and a 3-pointer by Trey Drake. Armed with a 46-27 lead with 3:12 remaining in the third quarter, Williamsville North got no closer than 16 points the rest of the game.

“I thought we executed pretty well, finding the open man and getting good shots for each other,” Coach Drake said. “I thought we made the right passes and found the open man, and it’s something we have to continue to grow and get better at.”

Next on Jamestown’s schedule is a road trip to Frontier on Wednesday.

“The key now is to be consistent,” Coach Drake said. “The things we did tonight are things we should do every night. We should never have an off night defensively.”

The Red Raiders didn’t last night.

Swierski was impressed.

“I thought coming into the season Jamestown had the best personnel in the league,” he said.

Asked if his opinion had changed, he shook his head side to side.

“They played great,” he said.

NOTES: Hopkins led the Spartans with 15 points. … As a team, Williamsville North shot just 13 of 53 from the floor and failed to connect on all 10 of its 3-point attempts. … In the junior varsity game, Jamestown ran its record to 8-2 following a 66-52 victory. Greg Brumagin led the way for the Red Raiders with 24 points.

WILLIAMSVILLE NORTH (41)

Bass 1 2 4, Washington 1 0 2, Finn 0 0 0, Murphy1 3 5, Swiech 3 2 8, Adelman 0 0 0, Tomaro 0 0 0, Richter 0 0 0, Leonard 0 0 0, Symons 0 2 2, Abaya 1 0 2, Seo 0 0 0, Bruno 0 1 1, Hopkins 6 3 15. Totals 13 13 41.

JAMESTOWN (64)

Brito 1 0 2, Rojas 6 0 12, Drake 4 0 11, Butera 0 0 0, Jones 10 1 21, SLeeper 3 0 7, Farmer 1 1 3, Swegles 2 0 5, Crofoot 0 0 0, Anderson 0 0 0, Trout 1 0 3, ALeeper 0 0 0, Navarro 0 0 0. Totals 28 2 64.

3-point goals–Drake 3, SLeeper, Swegles, Trout.

Williamsville North 11 9 12 9 — 41

Jamestown 18 15 18 13 — 64

Jayvees: Jamestown 66, Williamsville North 52.