The task for Bishop Grimes’ girls basketball team was a large one – namely, avenge two regular-season defeats to no. 3 seed Westhill in Tuesday night’s Class B quarterfinal.
And the Cobras nearly pulled it off, rallying twice in the second half and getting a shot at forcing overtime, only to come up just short in a 43-41 defeat to the Warriors.
Against the same Westhill side it lost to 55-23 on Feb. 1, Grimes only trailed 10-7 after one period, but things threatened to get away in the second quarter as the Warriors built a 24-13 margin going into halftime.
Anna Ross outscored the Cobras by herself in the half with 14 points, but registered only three points in the final two quarters. Sam Peebles, the other half of the Westhill dual offensive threat, was held to nine points.
As the Warriors’ stars struggled, Grimes got back into it, converting four 3-pointers in the third quarter to mount its first rally of the night.
Jordan Vaught and Megan Costello hit one 3-pointer apiece, and Katy McInerney added back-to-back 3’s to tie it, 32-32, late in the period. Costello scored seven of her team-leading 17 points in the quarter, with Vaught adding seven of her 10 points.
But as hot as Grimes got in that period, it was just as cold through most of the fourth quarter, just when the Warriors found its rhythm again during an 11-2 run to eventually go up 43-35 with three and a half minutes left.
Still, it wasn’t over. Grimes began its second comeback of the night thanks to turnovers on defense and missed free throws by Westhill. Mary Kate Washburn and Peebles missed the front end of one-and-one opportunities three times, and the Cobras responded with field goals to inch closer.
After Teresa Shattuck closed the gap to two with 15 seconds left, Peebles missed another free throw and the Cobras had the change to send the game into overtime. But the ball slipped out of Costello’s hands just as time expired.
Even as Costello and Vaught flourished, Tina Hoag struggled, managing just four points on the same floor where she injured her ankle in a loss to Westhill in December.
While all this was going on, the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team appeared to have a favorable match-up going into last Tuesday’s Class B quarterfinal against no. 2 seed Sherburne-Earlville, who had not faced anything close to the tough, consistent competition the Cobras faced in the OHSL Liberty division.
But the Marauders defied the skeptics and eliminated the Cobras 60-56 in a game nearly as close as the girls contest, but without the last-second excitement.
Defensively, Grimes did well in the first quarter, holding S-E to eight points, but as the pace picked up, so did the Marauders’ confidence as it tied the game, 25-25, going to halftime.
S-E didn’t get phased, either, when the Cobras went back in front during the third quarter. Instead, the Marauders saved its best work for the final period, where it made a series of clutch baskets and free throws, ultimately dooming Grimes’ title hopes.
Tom Steinberg managed 20 points, while fellow senior Joe Arrigo had 10 points. Johnny Wike had eight points and Akol Ater managed seven points. Austin Jasper led S-E with 18 points, while Ben Khoury earned 11 of his 15 points at the free-throw line and Elijah Morris added 12 points.
