Burned by its last-second defeat to East Syracuse-Minoa on Dec. 13, the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team rebounded in a big way.
Just two days after the ESM defeat, the Cobras came home and punished LaFayette for it, beating the Lancers 64-23.
In what was its best offensive performance of the young campaign, Grimes roared out to a 39-8 halftime lead, draining the game of any suspense while still playing solid defense all the way through.
Amelia Heiselman’s 13 points included a trio of 3-pointers as she bounced back from a quiet ESM effort. Amanda Marcely and Tenley Pitonzo each had 10 points, while Andrea Blake earned seven points. Each of the 10 Grimes players that saw action got at least one field goal.
On Thursday night, the Cobras, no. 15 in the first state Class C rankings of the season, visited Port Byron and got much the same effort, which led to a 60-32 victory over the Panthers.
More than anything else, this game boiled down to hot perimeter shooting. Ahead 8-6 early and 13-11 after one period, Grimes settled matters with a 25-6 second-quarter blitz, and built the margin to 53-22 by the time it got to the fourth quarter.
Port Byron paid for using a 2-3 zone defense, as Grimes drained 10 3-pointers, one short of the single-game school record.
Pitonzo hit on four of them, finishing with 18 points, while Cassidy Weeks hit a pair of treys on her way to setting a new career mark with 14 points, adding five rebounds and five steals.
Brooke Bonaccci, with a trio of 3-pointers, had 12 points on the night. Heiselman had seven assists and Cady Kalemba earned three assists.
On Tuesday night, Grimes (5-1) battled Pulaski, looking to avenge last year’s Class C-1 quarterfinal playoff defeat to the Blue Devils.
