Bishop Grimes’ boys basketball team is still in charge of the race for the OHSL Liberty division regular-season title – and Mike Stone made some history along the way.
The Cobras, who got a key win over Skaneateles earlier in the week, caught Marcellus short-handed Friday night and won by a score of 85-72 to stay ahead of Westhill in the Liberty standings.
Should those two teams keep winning, Grimes (15-1, 9-1 league) and Westhill (13-2, 9-2 league) could play next Friday for the league title. The Cobras’ only loss of the season came to the Warriors on Jan. 8.
The entire character of the Bishop Grimes-Marcellus game changed before the Mustangs even came to East Syracuse.
In Marcellus’ win over Cazenovia on Wednesday night, Will Fiacchi, the team’s leading scorer, fell awkwardly, breaking a bone in his foot and sidelining him for the rest of the season.
Without Fiacchi and his 21.5 points per game, the Mustangs had to change its game plan, focusing more on the duo of Will Nolan and Steve Raven. Nolan had missed the Cobras’ win over Marcellus on Dec. 23 with a wrist injury.
Where it really hurt, though, was on defense – where it quickly became apparent that Marcellus could do nothing to stop the quick, aggressive Cobra attack.
Grimes grabbed a 20-13 lead by the end of the first quarter, and quickly the attention turned to Stone, who in the second period sat on 997 career points.
Fittingly, Stone used a 3-pointer to reach 1,000 points, and the game was stopped to honor him as the gathered crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Of course, Stone and his mates were far from done. The Cobras built the margin to 38-22 by halftime, then kept on matching the Mustangs’ production throughout the second half, overcoming 23 points from Raven and 21 points from Nolan.
When it was done, Stone had 26 points, while fellow junior Mike Sugamosto threw in 18 points. Kucjok Ater and Tavon Moore each finished with 14 points.
As this went on, Jamesville-DeWitt and Christian Brothers Academy both inched closer to next Friday showdown for the OHSL Freedom division regular-season title with wins – J-D over Bishop Ludden 65-48, CBA over Mexico 76-56.
The undefeated, state Class A no. 1-ranked Red Rams, who had not played in nearly a week, did not show any rust against the Gaelic Knights, bolting to a 21-7 first-quarter lead.
J-D’s defense continued to shine, helping the Rams (16-0) to a 34-16 halftime edge before Ludden made a spirited second-half push, to no avail.
DaJuan Coleman ruled in the paint, pouring in 24 points, while Lamar Kearse drew all kinds of attention. Of Kearse’s 15 points, 10 came at the free-throw line. Tyler Cavanaugh added nine points. Jared Littlejohn led Ludden with 13 points.
CBA made it a special night at home against Mexico, saving its best part for the end.
Droughan McDermott, a student manager for four years, got a chance to suit up for the Brothers and took to the court late in this game. To the delight of the team, McDermott hit a free throw, too, to get on the scoreboard.
Prior to that, CBA (13-4, 11-1 league) tamed the Tigers by outscoring them in each quarter, the main fuel coming from senior Pat Wiese, who hit five 3-pointers on his way to a team-best 17 points.
Greg Thomson and Jameel Balenton each backed up Wiese with 12 points, while Troy Bullock had nine points. Yosh Karbowniczak came off the bench to earn six points.
