Just before the transition from 2014 to 2015, the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team would head to Onondaga Community College, attempting to protect both its undefeated record and its no. 6 state Class B ranking.
Assigned to Pool E of the “More Than a Game” Holiday Classic, staged at SRC Arena, where the Cobras, in the opening round, leaned on its defense to beat Fayetteville-Manlius 48-31 in Monday night’s opening round.
Much of the game was played on even terms – but only after a first quarter where Grimes cranked up its pressure and held the Hornets to a single field goal, blazing out to a 15-2 lead. Azariah Wade scored the team’s first seven points, half of her eventual total of 14 points.
F-M started to settle down a bit, but only after the Cobras built a 23-point margin early in the fourth quarter, largely due to Jordan Vaught, who had 11 points in a four-minute stretch of the second half and 22 points overall, including three 3-pointers.
For its part, the Hornets only had one player, D’Jhai Patterson-Ricks, reach double figures, earning 13 points, while Elizabeth Hall had six points. Carly Assimon and Reilly Baker had five points apiece.
Grimes would get a test in last Tuesday’s Pool E final against Rochester Mercy, who had routed Marcellus 69-44 in its opening-round game. And it proved tense from start to finish, but the Cobras maintained its unbeaten mark, holding off the Monarchs 51-44.
Unlike F-M, Mercy didn’t get fazed by Grimes’ quick start, overcoming a 14-5 deficit to draw close before halftime, and it would stay that way through the rest of the game.
Clinging to a slim lead in the third quarter, the Cobras kept Vaught on the court despite three fouls, and on back-to-back plays she nailed a crucial 3-pointer and then Wade for an inside basket to give Grimes a little more room.
Still, the Monarchs wouldn’t go away, still finding itself within two possessions before a big basket from Hartley, and two free throws from Wade, sealed the victory late.
Wade had a team-high 14 points, with Teresa Shattuck contributing 10 points. Vaught, despite her foul trouble, still got nine points and earned tournament MVP honors as Kyra Grimshaw contributed seven points. Travia Breedlove paced Mercy with 13 points.
F-M, in the consolation game, faced Marcellus, and with a career-best effort by Patterson-Ricks, held off the Mustangs by a score of 54-43.
No single run helped the Hornets prevail. Instead, it gradually gained control over a Marcellus side playing its fourth game in five days, wearing down the Mustangs and outscoring them 29-22 in the second half to get clear.
Through it all, Patterson-Ricks kept on hurting Marcellus, eventually working her total to 31 points, to go with six rebounds and four steals. Assimon added nine points.
Meanwhile, in Pool D of the same tournament, East Syracuse Minoa managed a third-place finish, all of it set up by Monday’s frustrating 65-64 defeat to Wayne.
Ultimately, the Spartans paid for scoring just nine points in the first quarter. The Eagles survived a wild second quarter that was a 23-23 deadlock and answered every time ESM tried to catch up after the margin was cut to one, 50-49, through three periods.
Also, ESM wasn’t rewarded for having a well-balanced attack. Sydni Eure led with 14 points, while Ashley Scalzo had seven of her 13 points at the free-throw line. Danielle Yates (11 points) and Haley Wise (10 points) also hit double figures as Athena Thomason contributed seven points.
This put ESM into the Pool D consolation game against Oneida, who had pushed unbeaten, state no. 6-ranked Indian River in a 41-34 defeat the day before.
Again, it proved close – but this time, the Spartans prevailed, 45-40, over the Indians, building up a 29-17 cushion by halftime and relying on its defense to stay out in front after the offense cooled off in the second half.
Scalzo did most of her damage at the foul line, earning 12 of her game-high 19 points from free throws, while Eure finished with 15 points. Between them, Scalzo, Eure and Wise (nine points) accounted for all but one of ESM’s field goals.
Once tournament week was done, Grimes returned to OCC on Saturday, this time to the smaller Allyn Hall, where it fell behind state Class A no. 23-ranked Maine-Endwell, but rallied for a 55-45 victory over the Spartans.
Through most of the first half, M-E controlled matters, leading 30-18 at one point. But when the Cobras closed the half on an 8-0 run, making it 30-26 at the break, it regained momentum, and then the defense did the rest, holding the Spartans to three field goals in the second half.
Offensively, Vaught did a bit of everything, ranging from 21 points to a career-best 10 rebounds, seven steals and three assists. And Wade dominated in the paint, pulling down 20 rebounds to go with her 12 points, as Katy McInerney had eight rebounds and six points and Teresa Shattuck managed six points, six rebounds and four steals.
