For the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team, the plan was to go to the familiar surroundings of SRC Arena and build up its win total through winning Pool Six of the Hoops for the Hospital Tournament – and even if those plans changed, it all turned out well.
Bad weather last Monday night forced Susquehanna Valley (Section IV), the Cobras’ first scheduled opponent, to postpone its trip from the Southern Tier. As such, Grimes had to wait 24 hours to resume its season.
Ironically, that game would take place against Skaneateles, who on Monday beat the same Marcellus team Grimes had struggled with a week earlier. Still, the Cobras, who moved up to no. 8 in the last state Class B rankings, were ready for it, and led by Mark Shattuck and A.C. Ater, it parlayed a fast start into a 67-54 victory over the Lakers.
Grimes pushed its way in front and then, in the second quarter, outscored the Lakers 21-11 to build up a 40-25 halftime lead, relying on the inside-outside game where Shattuck would get open in the paint and, when he got covered, Ater would be open for shots that he would convert.
To its credit, Skaneateles did not let the Cobras run away. All through the second half, it made runs, but could not quite put a scare into Grimes despite a well-balanced attack where Jake Reed (15 points), Marc Pietropaoli (13 points), Aubrey Leverich (12 points) and Pete Knupp (10 points) each scored in double figures.
Shattuck set a season mark with 22 points, including 10 converted field goals, while Ater finished with 15 points. Help came from Shawn Gashi, who had nine points, and Luciano Vigliotti, who had seven points. Johnny Wike and Dom Delvecchio had five points apiece.
They would make up the game between Grimes and Susquehanna Valley on Saturday night at SRC Arena, and the delay did nothing to hurt the Cobras, who dominated the Sabers from the opening tip and won by a 78-39 margin.
Throughout the first half, Grimes’ pressure led to SV turnovers, and then baskets on the other end. That produced a 40-15 lead, with the Cobras tacking on 24 third-quarter points to add to that advantage.
Each of the 10 Grimes players that saw action got at least one field goal. Ater led the charge with 18 points, adding seven assists, while Vigliotti poured in 15 points. David Mo had a season-best 12 points as Shattuck contributed 10 points. Gashi got nine points and Wike earned six points.
Meanwhile, west of Rochester, Fayetteville-Manlius looked to reverse its recent struggles by doing well in the Hilton Holiday Tournament, and played quite well early in last Tuesday’s opening round against Greece Arcadia, but could not hold on in an 80-74 defeat to the Titans.
During the first half, the Hornets were quite good, steadily gaining a 45-34 lead as Fernando Johnson led the way, eventually earning 24 points to go with four rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Yet even Johnson’s heroics could not derail Greece Arcadia, who made up most of the deficit in the third quarter and outscored F-M 22-12 in the final period. And it happened despite Jawaan Crouch earning 15 points and seven assists, with Tim Zapisek adding 12 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Ryan Miller adding 12 points. David Stegemann had seven points and five rebounds.
In Wednesday’s consolation game against Hilton, F-M let out weeks of frustration and won big, routing the Cadets 77-37 in a game where the Hornets only led 26-23 at halftime, but then buried Hilton with a 32-4 third-quarter blitz to end the suspense.
Amid the deluge, Johnson put up 20 points and eight rebounds, while Crouch managed 14 points, six rebounds and six assists. Zapisek had nine points, nine rebounds, four steals and three assists as Miller also got nine points. Mack Fish contributed seven points as Henry Josephson earned six points and five rebounds. Nick Perry contributed six steals on the defensive side.
