By mid-January, the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team was one of just three unbeaten sides left in Section III, along with Christian Brothers Academy and Oriskany, and while the Brothers finally took a blemish against Bishop Ludden, the question was just how long the Cobras could stay perfect.
As it turned out, it lasted 12 straight games – until Sunday night’s opening round of the Cobras’ own DeFrancisco & Falgitano Law Firm MLK Tournament, where Syracuse Academy of Science took charge of the game in the second half and pulled away to beat Grimes 67-50.
This was a tough assignment for the Cobras, since the Atoms arrived in East Syracuse with a 7-2 record, but were steaming from an 87-77 defeat to city rival Institute of Technology Central two nights earlier where James Walker had burned SAS for 40 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
At first, it looked like the same sort of up-and-down contest would evolve here. Grimes led, 19-17, through one quarter, but slowed down the rest of the half as the SAS defense would spend the rest of the game asserting itself.
By the third quarter, the Atoms were in front, having outscored the Cobras 18-9 in that frame, and it put things away behind the work of Symir Torrence, who had 25 points, with help from Jessie Murray and Khari Odoms, who had 14 points apiece.
No one on Grimes got close to those totals, as Luciano Vigliotti led the Cobras with 13 points. Johnny Wike had 10 points, with A.C. Ater contributing nine points and Shawn Gashi earning seven points.
Before all this, Grimes had passed two more OHSL Liberty division tests to get to 12-0. What seemed like a tricky road test at Solvay last Monday night turned, instead, into a showcase for the Cobras’ all-around game as it dominated the first three quarters and cruised past the Bearcats 71-45.
Perhaps Grimes caught Solvay at the right time, reeling from a home loss to Cazenovia two nights earlier, but if so, the Cobras had little sympathy, holding the Bearcats to seven points in the first quarter as it quickly seized a double-digit lead.
By halftime, the margin was 44-22, and it got bigger in the third quarter before Grimes pulled its starters. By then, Wike had poured in 22 points, while Vigliotti had earned 15 points, the pair combining for five 3-pointers.
Wike and Vigliotti didn’t work alone, though. Shawn Gashi and Dom Delvecchio finished with nine points apiece, while David Mo gained seven points. Blake Bagozzi, with 10 points, was the lone Solvay player to score in double figures.
Going for 12 in a row, the Cobras saw a Wednesday rematch with Solvay snowed out, but Friday’s game against visiting Skaneateles went on, with Grimes overcoming a blizzard of fouls by using a series of runs to subdue the Lakers 81-67.
This was a rematch of their Dec. 29 encounter at SRC Arena, where the Cobras had prevailed 67-54. Just 2 ½ weeks later, the point totals would go up – as would the foul totals and the tempers on both sides.
Never trailing, Grimes scored the game’s first eight points, and while Skaneateles answered with an 11-2 run, the game’s pattern was established. Whenever the Lakers put together any kind of scoring burst, the Cobras countered it in a hurry.
Helped by a 12-2 run and gaining the last six points of the half, Grimes put the Lakers in a 44-28 halftime deficit, only to see Skaneateles net the first eight points of the second half. Again, though, the Cobras closed the quarter strong, going on an 8-0 run to make it 62-46, and then stringing together 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to thwart a last Laker comeback attempt.
Ater came off the bench to lead Grimes with 24 points, with Wike adding 18 points. It didn’t help the Lakers that Pete Knupp fouled out early in the final period, and no one seemed happy with the calls as both head coaches (McKenney and Skaneateles’ Karl Norris) picked up technical fouls, as did Delvecchio.
Knupp only had four points amid his foul trouble, something that his teammates could not make up for, though Marc Pietropaoli had 22 points and Jake Reed added 20 points.
Then the win streak ended against SAS – but Grimes bounced right back in Monday’s consolation game of the MLK Tournament, defeating St. Francis Prep 71-60.
Leading a well-balanced attack, Vigliotti produced 15 points, with Wike gaining 14 points. Jonah Cummings provided a spark with 13 points as Ater gained 10 points, with Shattuck (eight points) and Mo (seven points) close behind.
But that single defeat cost Grimes in the state Class B rankings, as it fell to no. 13, two spots behind Westhill at no. 11.