Bob McKenney insisted that the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team’s 64-63 victory over Jamesville-DeWitt in Friday night’s Section III Class A semifinal at SRC Arena was not about his own redemption.
“I’m happy for my players more than anything,” said McKenney, noting that for them it atoned for the overtime loss in this same round to those same Red Rams a year ago.
Yet the scenes following the game told a different story, with McKenney receiving lots of hugs and support from fans, friends and family beyond the usual congratulations that accompanies a win like this.
There was no mistaking the fact that defeating the team McKenney led to five state championships before letting him go in 2015 brought immense satisfaction on many fronts.
It also justified the tough path Grimes had taken through the regular season, a bruising slate that included plenty of setbacks, but also made the Cobras stronger when things countered more.
All of that strength and heart was needed in a sectional semifinal that was closely fought from beginning. Only once did either team lead by more than four points, when Grimes went out in front 64-58 on Tong Mading’s pair of free throws with 4:48 left.
Those were the last points the Cobras scored as its offense, so effective and well-balanced throughout the night, went cold at the worst possible time, giving J-D ample opportunity to pull it out.
Teleak Robinson’s five straight points cut the margin to one, but with two chances to go ahead in the waning seconds, the Rams came up empty.
First, Grimes’ defense smothered J-D’s best late-game threat, Payton Shumpert, who had recorded 16 points and 14 rebounds. Without Shumpert to find, Takuya LaClair tried a contested 3-pointer that fell short of the rim.
Fouled with 3.6 seconds left, David Mo missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw and Robinson got the ball, only to dribble the ball off his foot and out of bounds before he could attempt a game-winning shot.
McKenney credited his team’s defense for turning itself around in the second half after a wild first two quarters that featured seven ties and a handful of lead changes before J-D moved in front, 42-38, at the break.
As the Rams found it more difficult to get open looks, Grimes’ reserves took on a larger role. Between them, Mading, Nate Gay (eight points apiece) and Gus O’Connell (nine points, all from three 3-pointers) offered ample support to stars T.J. Bradford, who had 18 points, and Mo, who got 11 points and seven rebounds.
“Our bench has been great all year,” said McKenney. “I have confidence in them to make plays.”
J-D, to support Shumpert, got 12 points from LaClair and 11 points from Matt Cieplicki, with Marcus Johnson adding eight points, but none of them could make the big shots at the end that Buddy Boeheim had done against Grimes 12 months ago.
So now, having toppled the no. 3 seed (PSLA Fowler) and no. 2 seed (J-D), the Cobras will attempt to complete the trifecta March 4 at 5:30 in the Carrier Dome when it faces top seed Utica-Notre Dame in the sectional final. The Jugglers pulled away to beat Whitesboro 59-45 in the other semifinal game, and also beat Grimes twice in the regular season.
