Even though the Christian Brothers Academy boys basketball team got moved up to Class AA following back-to-back Section III Class A titles, its rivalry with the neighbors from Jamesville-DeWitt is still quite active.
The Brothers and Red Rams will square off Dec. 29 in the opening round of CBA’s Bottar-Leone Holiday Classic, but only before a set of contests that will include the most-hyped regular-season event on the Central New York high school hoops calendar.
That would be Friday night’s game between J-D and visiting Bishop Grimes, the first time Cobras head coach Bob McKenney has worked the sideline of a game since his highly-publicized departure in 2015 that ended a tenure which included four state Class A titles.
Placed at no. 18 in the first state Class A rankings of the season thanks to its 3-0 start, J-D flourished again last Tuesday night at Skaneateles, Between an early offensive showcase and a late-game defensive shutdown, everything went well for the Rams in a 90-44 romp over the Lakers.
Paced by Buddy Boeheim and Darvin Lovette, J-D had its way against Skaneateles in the first half as it accumulated a 50-26 lead. Not content with that, the Rams assured no big comeback by holding the Lakers to a scant nine points in each of the last two periods.
Coming off a 35-point, 15-rebound performance at Fayetteville-Manlius on Dec. 9, Boeheim got 27 points and seven rebounds this time, with Lovette contributing 20 points.
Matt Carlin wasn’t quiet, either, with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Barbaro Noda got eight points as Takuya LaClair, Marcus Johnson and Trey Greene had six points apiece and Terrance Echols contributed four assists and five rebounds. Mike Anderson had three assists and four rebounds.
Not only is J-D facing Grimes late this week, it would pay a visit Monday night to Westhill, back in the favorite’s role in Class B now that the Cobras moved up to Class A.
For its part, Grimes rebounded from its Dec. 9 defeat to Bishop Ludden last Friday at Syracuse Academy of Science, putting together a solid all-around performance to defeat the Atoms 73-57.
A week’s rest didn’t cause any rust for the Cobras, who dominated SAS throughout the first half and built up a 40-23 lead, and then withstood all of the Atoms’ comeback attempts thanks to relentless defensive pressure.
David Mo stepped up with 19 points, with Lucci Vigliotti also getting 19 points, helped by three 3-pointers. Shawn Gashi was close behind, earning 14 points as Jonah Cummings (10 points) also hit double figures. Symir Torrence paced SAS and led all scorers with 22 points.
East Syracuse Minoa earned its first win of the season Wednesday night, topping Phoenix 61-51. the Spartans held the Firebirds to four points in the first quarter and then protected that lead the rest of the night.
In doing so, ESM overcame 30 points from Phoenix’s Jack Allen, mainly by spreading its production around as 11 different players got at least one field goal. Kevin Richardson led with 19 points, including three 3-pointers, while Gabe Holloman earned 13 points. Devin Spencer and David Dabrowski had six points apiece.
The Spartans sought back-to-back wins on Friday, but fell at home to Fowler 79-59, the game a close one until ESM, trailing 27-25 at halftime, saw the Falcons go on a 29-15 third-quarter blitz.
All night long, no Spartans defender could stop Fowler’s Davonta Stackhouse, who set a career mark with 38 points. Deamore Francis, Dennis Jones (12 points each) and Yaret Osorio (11 points) helped out as ESM got 15 points from Richardson, 14 points from Holloman and 13 points from Dennis Benjack.
