Onondaga — Of all the local high school girls basketball teams who found their way to SRC Arena for the annual Hoops for the Hospital Holiday Classic, no one made a bigger impression than Bishop Grimes, who defeated defending state Class B champion Susquehanna Valley 58-50 in Sunday night’s Pool Three championship game.

Heading into the tournament, the Cobras were 4-3, having gone through an up-and-down December that included losses to Central Square, Bishop Ludden and Westhill. But things began to turn around at OCC, where it has played so many important game in the last couple of years.

It started with a 55-38 victory over Oswego in the Dec. 26 opening round. Here, the Cobras’ defense was the main story, holding the Buccaneers to 13 total points in the second and third periods to break the game open.

Azariah Wade gained 21 points on the offensive side, adding eight rebounds and six steals. Marissa Hartley gained 11 points, adding four rebounds and five assists, while Brianna Squier had eight points and Gina Martin gained six points.

This led to the final against Susquehanna Valley, from Section IV. A season ago, the Sabers topped Westhill in the Class B regional final and later claimed its first-ever state title, and this fall it was 6-1, no. 12 in the state rankings and had beaten Rochester Mercy in the opening round.

None of this mattered much to Grimes, who from the outset took the game to Susquehanna, playing superb defense and converting on the other end, too, on the way to building a 30-20 halftime lead.

What’s more, even though the Sabres fought back and tied it early in the fourth quarter, Grimes had enough poise to regain the lead and hang on with free throws, especially from Wade, who poured in 25 points, including seven successful foul shots.

continued — Katy McInerney, quiet against Oswego, roared here with 13 points, including three 3-pointers. Hartley and Squier finished with seven points apiece, just ahead of Abby Wilkinson, who contributed six points.

As part of Pool Four, Fayetteville-Manlius, who was coming off its first loss of the season Dec. 22 to Liverpool, opened Monday against the same West Genesee it beat 57-43 two weeks earlier.

Here, it was closer, but the Hornets won again over the Wildcats, this time 46-36. Neither side generated much offense in the first half. Up 17-14, F-M briefly gave up the lead in the third quarter before a 9-1 run turned it around, Natalie Amico scoring six of her seven points in that period.

WG did tie it again, 30-30, early in the fourth quarter, but key baskets by Carly Assimon and Lizzie Hall sparked a closing 16-6 run. D’Jhai Patterson-Ricks led with 15 points, while Assimon had 12 points. Hall matched Amico’s total of seven points.

In the championship game Tuesday afternoon, F-M met Norwich, from Section IV, who had beaten Section V visitor Rush-Henrietta. This proved to be a tense, close affair, but the Hornets pulled it out, mostly leaning on its defense in the latter stages to pull out a 46-45 win over the Purple Tornado.

F-M trailed much of the game, but after Norwich went up 15-9 in the first quarter, it couldn’t put together the run it needed. Instead, the Hornets hung around and, in the fourth quarter, held the Purple Tornado to just four points, allowing itself to grab a slim lead and hang on.

Patterson-Ricks did a bit of everything, ranging from 17 points to six rebounds, five assists and four steals. Helping out, Assimon had seven points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Alexix Schneider gained six points. Alexis Gray contributed seven rebounds and five points.

continued — Over in Pool Two, East Syracuse Minoa had a tough bracket, having to start against Class B state no. 6-ranked South Jefferson and overwhelmed in an 83-18 defeat to that other group of Spartans.

South Jefferson outscored ESM 25-1 in the second quarter, this after a 19-3 opening period. Olivia McEachron did manage 11 points in the second half while five South Jefferson players scored in double figures, with Jenna Zimmerman (17 points) and Quincey Zimmerman (15 points) leading the way.

The consolation game between ESM and Oneida proved much closer, but the Spartans still lost, 59-41, to the Indians, unable to overcome another rough first half where the Spartans fell behind 31-13.

Between them, Loren Clifford, with 15 points, and Brigid McGinley, with 14 points, produced eight of ESM’s 11 field goals. For Oneida, Lauren Skibitski had 15 points, just ahead of Julianna Cavanaugh (12 points) and Claire Mancarella (11 points).