For all the obvious ties between Jamesville-DeWitt and Bishop Grimes boys basketball, what was lacking in their recent history was a chance to play each other with a Section III championship at stake.
In both 2017 and 2018, the Red Rams and Cobras met in the sectional semifinals, with J-D prevailing the first time and Grimes getting even a year later.
Now, though, the chance to have a sectional final in the Carrier Dome between the program Bob McKenney once coached and the one he currently coaches presented itself in 2019.
As the no. 4 seed, Grimes, following a first-round bye, had to face its neighbors from East Syracuse Minoa in Tuesday’s sectional quarterfinals, and it turned into one of the Cobras’ best all-around efforts of the season as it knocked out the Spartans 77-56.
Having handled Watertown 60-42 in the opening round of the sectional tournament, ESM tried, at least at the outset, to match Grimes’ quick tempo, and did so through the first quarter.
However, in the second period the Cobras got away, outscoring the Spartans 22-10 on the way to building a 42-25 halftime advantage, something that it would nurse and build throughout the rest of the game.
Grimes’ depth made a big difference as all 11 players that saw action got on the scoreboard and 10 of them had field goals. Nate Gay led with 17 points, while T.J. Bradford had 13 points, David Mo 11 points and Gus O’Connell chimed in with 10 points.
Most of ESM’s top players were well-contained, Devin Mascato-Buffaloe held to nine points as Nick Peterson and Jack Shields each had eight points. Only Dennis Benjack, with 19 points (including five 3-pointers), was able to produce on a consistent basis.
As that went on, J-D, with the no. 2 seed, hosted no. 7 seed Cortland, and beat them for the third time this winter, using a mix of stifling defense and hot shooting from Max Schulman to put away the Purple Tigers by a 63-36 margin.
Cortland may have done J-D a favor by knocking out Syracuse Academy of Science 58-55 in the opening round, for SAS had given the Rams fits both times they had played this winter.
By contrast, J-D had handled the Purple Tigers 78-46 in December and 63-54 late in January, and didn’t get too bothered by a slow start in their playoff encounter, either, though it only led 24-18 at halftime.
All game long, the Rams’ defense was effective, and that remained the case even after Schulman started knocking down 3-pointers on a regular basis amid a decisive 24-9 push through the third quarter.
Eventually, Schulman finished with 25 points, connective five times beyond the arc as Preston Shumpert added 12 points and Matt Cieplicki got six points.
