A memorable last weekend of the high school basketball regular season would see each of the Bishop Grimes teams take the measure of Westhill – and come up short.
Of the two, the boys outcome was far more surprising as the Cobras, at full strength, expected to make quick work of the battered two-time defending state Class B champions – but instead found itself on the wrong end of a superb effort by the Warriors in a 69-45 defeat.
Grimes entered the game 17-1, and having beaten Westhill 73-63 on Dec. 6 in the Peppino’s Invitational at Henninger High School before injuries to the likes of Chase Gedney and Sean Dadey ravaged the Warriors’ lineup, shortening the bench and giving few reasons to think it could turn around that earlier defeat to the Cobras.
All of that changed, though, in the second quarter. Trailing 20-16, Westhill gave up a Grimes free throw – and then, for the last 7:16 of the half, it shut out the Cobras, using man-to-man pressure to force a rash of turnovers and notching 17 unanswered points on the other end, most of them by senior Ryan Roland.
By halftime, it was 36-20 in Westhill’s favor, and it kept pulling further way thanks to Roland pouring in 33 points, plus five assists and three rebounds. Some help came from John Geer, who got 12 points and six rebounds, while Jordan Marcano earned nine rebounds, five assists and seven points. Antonio Scrimale got seven rebounds and three assists.
Then, on Saturday afternoon, the Bishop Grimes girls, with a 13-6 record, had their turn, in a big showdown with a Westhill side whose 15-game win streak included a 54-35 romp over the Cobras back on Dec. 14. The rematch was much closer, but again, the Warriors prevailed, this time by a 47-38 margin.
It was Senior Day for the trio of Marissa Hartley, Katy McInerney and Isabella Naylor, and the trio started – watching Grimes get shut out in the first four minutes of the game and trail, 15-5, after one period.
Sophomore forward Azariah Wade brought the Cobras back, tearing up Westhill for 14 of her 20 points in the second quarter to help Grimes grab a 23-20 lead. But Westhill went back in front for good just before halftime and, spent much of the second half bottling up Wade while also containing the rest of the Cobras’ lineup too.
Other than Wade, only Squier, with eight points, produced with any kind of regularity. On Westhill’s side, Katelyn Karleski led with 13 points, while sisters Delaney and Mackenzie Martin finished with 12 points apiece.
In the last tune-up before Westhill, Grimes put together an awesome defensive effort at Altmar-Parish-Williamstown, shutting out the Rebels for long stretches on the way to an easy 51-24 victory.
As if sprinting out to a 16-5 lead wasn’t enough, the Cobras proceeded to shut out APW in the second quarter, notching 17 unanswered points along the way. The margin got to 49-14 by the end of the third period before the starters rested.
Hartley, quiet in recent weeks, gained 13 points on this night to lead Grimes. Wade and Squier each had 12 points, combining for 12 rebounds, too, along with six blocks to dominate in the paint. Molly McInerney dished out eight assists as Abby Wilkinson and Maria Naylor got six points apiece.
The Grimes boys team also would play APW, on Wednesday night, and it proved quite lopsided, the Cobras routing the Rebels 71-30 as it tore through the first half 43-15 and built the margin to 59-20 by the end of the third quarter.
Johnny Wike had the hot hand again, hitting on six 3-pointers to account for most of his 21 points, but all 10 Grimes players that saw action got at least one field goal. Shawn Gashi had 12 points, while Luciano Vigliotti had 10 points. Mark Shattuck and Nigel Duffus had six points apiece.