Just once in this renaissance winter had the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team tasted defeat, at home in a loss to Syracuse Academy of Science on Jan. 17.

Less than two weeks later, the Cobras paid a visit to SAS, looking to get even, and did so last Friday night, though it took working all 32 minutes to get in front and withstand all of the possible charges to edge the Atoms 66-62.

Having confidence from its big win over Syracuse ITC a week earlier, Grimes fought its way to a 17-13 first-quarter lead. Then the game’s pattern emerged, SAS offering a challenge and the Cobras answering it, the score barely budging as each team battled for control.

Grimes only led by one, 48-47, going to the fourth quarter, but pulled it out thanks to A.C. Ater, who led with 23 points, including three 3-pointers. Luciano Vigliotti, with 13 points, and Jonah Cummings, with 10 points, also got to double figures, while Shawn Gashi had nine points and Dom Delvecchio six points. For the Atoms, Jessie Murray set the pace, earning 20 points, with Symir Torrence getting 16 points and Kenyang Lual adding 17 points.

Once unbeaten and lauded as the area’s best, Christian Brothers Academy was a hungry bunch when it hosted Fowler Friday, having not won a game in more than two weeks and coming off back-to-back defeats to Bishop Ludden and Jamesville-DeWitt.

All went fine for the Brothers, though, as it beat the Falcons 68-38 to break that brief skid. It outscored Fowler in every period, capped by a 21-9 third quarter, CBA seeing Mark Lutz earn 17 points and Charles Pride add 16 points. Matt Purcell, with nine points, and Kevin Underwood, with eight points, helped out.

Ironically, J-D was facing Bishop Ludden again on Friday, just nine days after a 24-point defeat to the Gaelic Knights at home on Jan. 20. Though the venue changed, the result was the same, Ludden winning by that exact same margin as it handled the Red Rams 80-56.

For a while, it appeared J-D could get even with the Gaelic Knights, just as it did against CBA a week earlier, but after Darvin Lovette’s basket tied it, 19-19, with 5:31 left in the second quarter, Ludden did not allow a basket for the next seven-plus minutes.

It was Jim Grabowski, coming off bench, sparking Ludden’s decisive 21-1 run, earning seven consecutive points late in that second period. It helped, too, that the Gaelic Knights dominated on the offensive board, accumulating chances and wearing J-D down while, at the same time, pressuring the Rams into turnovers and bad shots on the other end.

Mika Adams-Woods made sure the Rams didn’t come back, earning nine points in the third quarter and 27 overall, to go with eight assists. Grabowski finished with 13 points, while Will Engelhardt got 10 points. Lovette paced J-D with 19 points and Jimmy Boeheim added 17 points.

The struggles of East Syracuse Minoa would continue in last Monday night’s game at Solvay, where it lost, 72-47, to the Bearcats. For a half, it was close, the Spartans only trailing 33-30, but it only netted four points in the third quarter as Solvay started to pull away.

Only Ty Barkins, with 16 points, scored in double figures for ESM. Colton Cwikla had eight points, with Derrek Madonna adding six points. On the Bearcats’ side, Blake Bagozzi and Mike Yaizzo each hit three 3-pointers as Bagozzi got 17 points and Yaizzo 13 points, with Sammy Kippen adding 10 points.

Hosting Watertown Thursday night, the Spartans fell, 84-51, to the Cyclones, who used a 29-12 push through the third quarter to break the game open and improve to 12-6.

Gabe Holloman had 22 points, but no one else on ESM’s roster had more than Colin Sloan’s total of six points. By contrast, Watertown put five players in double figures. led by RaShaun Hunter, who had 21 points, and Terrance Lemon, who got 17 points.

In Friday night’s 74-43 loss to Central Square, ESM actually led, 12-11, through one quarter, only to get outscored 38-14 over the course of the next two periods. Holloman had 12 points, with Ny’Zhier Jefferson adding seven points and Corey Wolf six points. Twelve different Redhawks earned at least one field goal as Jake Kulakowski led with 19 points.

Continuing its up-and-down season, Manlius-Pebble Hill went to Cato-Meridian last Monday night and beat the Blue Devils 65-53, a game that saw the Trojans squander an early lead and trail, 28-25, at halftime, only to hang in there and then dominate the fourth quarter with a 24-5 blitz.

Amid the blitz, Joe Cerio worked his total to 21 points, and got lots of help. Saad Burkhari had 11 points, with Ato Arkhurst adding 10 points. Jayson Staiger (eight points) and Bryce Church (seven points) helped, too, as MPH overcame the work of Cato’s Justin Donnelly, who led both sides with 24 points.

With a 5-9 record, the Trojans would, on Wednesday night, meet the same Tully side it beat 61-55 in a Dec. 9 upset.

But the Black Knights got even here, beating MPH 65-49 as it outscored the hosts 21-9 in the first quarter, extended its margin to 37-21 by halftime and never let the Trojans catch up, despite 24 points from Cerio and 12 points from Church.

Staiger had seven points and Sam Goldman six points as Jason Phelps (17 points), Drew McNerney (16 points) and Jon Lippert (15 points) led a three-pronged Tully attack.