With their high profiles and rich histories, it only figured that Christian Brothers Academy, Bishop Grimes and Jamesville-DeWitt’s boys basketball teams all would take part in the early-season showcase of the Peppino’s Invitational at Henninger High School, though not against each other.

Of them, the Brothers had the most to gain, playing twice, and won each time against a Class AA opponent, while the Cobras defeated two-time defending state Class B champion Westhill 73-63 to establish itself as the early Class B favorite and the Red Rams fell to Section V power Fairport 67-57.

This productive weekend for CBA began Friday night against Utica Proctor, which turned with a prolonged second-half spurt by the Brothers that led to a 79-69 victory over the Raiders.

Amid a furious pace, CBA and Proctor traded blows until the Raiders took a 52-46 lead late in the third quarter, propelled there by a tremendous effort from Andre Hawkins, who would finish with 37 points in the wake of scoring 30 against J-D in Proctor’s season opener a week earlier.

Somehow, CBA overcame this with precise execution on the offensive end. Over a span of less than six minutes bridging the end of the third period and the start of the fourth, the Brothers outscored the Raiders 23-4, getting big contributions on several fronts.

Sophomore Charles Pride had a team-high 23 points, but fellow sophomore Dan Damico was close behind, earning 20 points. Senior Mark Lutz, perhaps CBA’s most improved player, earned 13 of his 16 points in the second half as reserves Kevin Underwood (11 points) and Paul Aversa (seven points) provided a lot of help, too.

Without any time to rest, CBA had to turn around Saturday night and face Liverpool, who had gained its own 2-0 start under its new head coach, former Syracuse University great Ryan Blackwell.

These two sides would engage in a tense classic, but again the Brothers came out on top, defeating the Warriors 60-56.

Liverpool dominated the boards in the first half and led most of the way, but CBA rallied to tie it, 27-27, at the break. Then the Brothers’ stifling defense took over, holding the Warriors without a field goal for more than six minutes as it took the lead for good.

Any time Liverpool tried to catch up in the late going, CBA answered it, especially Lutz, who poured in 23 points, including four 3-pointers. Pride had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds as Damico also got 15 points. For the Warriors, Tyler Sullivan and Naj Johnson each had 14 points, with Will Cutler adding 13 points.

Back on Friday, Bishop Grimes had taken out a Westhill team still adjusting to life after the graduation of the core of its two-time state champions, including Jordan Roland (now at George Washington University) and Tyler Reynolds.

Two runs keyed the Cobras’ victory. First, Grimes went on a 12-4 spurt late in the second quarter, establishing a 38-30 halftime lead. Then it had a 12-2 run in the third period to stretch out its margin to double digits, with Westhill unable to get closer than seven, 59-52 the rest of the way.

Showing tremendous offensive balance, Grimes had five players in double figures, led by A.C. Ater, who had 14 points, just ahead of Shawn Gashi (13 points), Johnny Wike (12 points), Mark Shattuck (11 points) and Luciano Vigliotti (10 points). Westhill’s Ryan Roland had 29 points, but no other Warrior player was close to his total.

It was similar to what happened to J-D against Fairport a day later. All game long, it was tight, but the Red Raiders used a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to decide matters, In defeat, Jimmy Boeheim led the Red Rams with 23 points, while Rahmell Smith and Matt Carlin had 12 points apiece. J-D fell to 0-2 on the season.

Grimes went to Henninger sporting a 3-0 mark following its Oneida Tournament title, earned Nov. 27-28, and last Tuesday’s 68-48 victory over East Syracuse Minoa that, essentially, was an even game most of the way.

The difference was that, during the first quarter, the Cobras did everything it wanted at the Spartans’ expense, roaring out to a 24-5 lead. Everything from there was fairly routine, though ESM did close the gap to 46-32 before a Grimes getaway in the late going.

Vigliotti led the Cobras with 20 points, one of four players to score in double figures. Shattuck had 12 points, while Wike had 11 points and Ater added 10 points. On ESM’s side, Corey Wolf, with 13 points, and Ty Barkins, with 12 points, led the way as Gabe Holloman got all six of his points at the free-throw line.

CBA had opened its season against the same Whitesboro team it beat in last winter’s sectional Class A semifinal. This time, though, it was never a close one, the Brothers rolling past the Warriors 67-40.

Throughout the first half, CBA’s defensive pressure caused all kinds of trouble, and by intermission the Brothers held a 38-16 edge. All 13 players that saw action got at least one point, with Lutz (12 points) and Pride (10 points) setting the pace. Damico, Nick Aversa and Mark Purcell had seven points apiece.

Manlius-Pebble Hill opened its season last Thursday with a narrow 57-55 defeat to Onondaga. The Tigers led, 16-9, after one period, and answered every Trojan run from there, overcoming 26 points by MPH’s Joe Cerio as Bryce Church added 11 points. Bryce Macina paced OCS with 22 points.