Leeper Leads Jamestown To Big ECIC I Boys Basketball Win At Lancaster

Jamestown junior Simeon Leeper posted a game-high 28 points as the Red Raiders earned a hard-fought 64-58 win over the rival Legends in ECIC I boys basketball action on Thursday night.

The Raiders took control of the back-and-forth-game with a 16-3 fourth-quarter run after Lancaster took a short-lived lead in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, erasing a nine-point deficit. After being derailed by the Legends’ full-court press, Jamestown figured things out in the final period.

“We finally stopped turning the ball over and did a better job against their aggressive defense,” Jamestown coach Ben Drake said. “Give Lancaster a lot of credit, I thought they played really hard. They’re a physical and tough team and we’re happy to come out of here with a win tonight.”

Leeper scored 17 pints in the second half, including eight in the decisive fourth quarter.

“Simeon played really well, especially in the fourth quarter,” Drake said. “He had a nice stretch there where he made some big plays there that really helped us out a lot.”

Meanwhile, the Legends suffered their first loss of the season after three non-league wins to start the season. Lancaster led for most of the first half and battled back to take an early fourth quarter lead on three free throws by Trevor Reformat. Jaylen Butera reclaimed the Jamestown lead less than a half-minute later, kick-starting a 9-0 run that put the Red Raiders in control. The lead stretched to 12; the Legends fought until the end to close the final-margin but came up short.

“To lose like this early in the year, we can move on,” Lancaster coach John Otto said. “It’s wide-open in our league and we thought this was a winnable game but we didn’t get it. Now we have to go try to steal one in Jamestown.”

The rematch will come on Jan. 28 at Jamestown.

ECIC I is loaded from top to bottom – led by the likes of West Seneca West, Williamsville North, Orchard Park, Clarence … as well as the Red Raiders and Legends.

“It’s a long season, but we’ll take it,” Drake said of Thursday’s win. “There are no nights off in ECIC I.”

Trey Drake added 14 for Jamestown (3-1 overall, 2-0 ECIC I). Sophomore center Joe Harrington led Lancaster with 22 points.