Neither the Fayetteville-Manlius nor Christian Brothers Academy girls basketball teams had a win in the books when they met up for last Wednesday night’s non-league game at Buddy Wleklinski Court.
And it was the Hornets emerging victorious as it overcame a rough start to take charge in the fourth quarter to beat the Brothers 48-38.
CBA contained F-M well early, leading 14-7 after one quarter. Gradually, the Hornets chopped away at that deficit, and by the start of the fourth quarter it was tied, 33-33. With a far more experienced lineup on hand, F-M got clear by outscoring the Brothers 15-5 in those last eight minutes.
Abbey Harris, with 10 points, led a well-balanced attack where Carly Assimon got eight points, three rebounds and three assists and Alexandra Vinci also got eight points, adding five assists and three rebounds as Alexis Gray had seven points and five rebounds.
On CBA’s side, the entire attack consisted of three players. Inside, Nafysa Williams worked her way to 15 points, while Brooke Jarvis and Emily Hall each hit on three 3-pointers on the perimeter as Jarvis got 12 points and Hall 11 points.
F-M went from there to Saturday’s game at Binghamton (Section IV), where it took a 44-37 defeat, unable to come back after the Patriots steadily worked its way to a 27-20 halftime edge.
Still, Gray managed a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, adding three blocks and three steals. Harris gained seven points as Assimon picked up six points and Lily Fish had six rebounds.
Even before it got to step onto its home court for the first time this winter, Bishop Grimes had let everyone know that it meant to challenge the likes of Westhill and Bishop Ludden for OHSL Liberty and Section III Class B honors.
Already with a 57-14 rout at Cazenovia on Nov. 30 in the books, the Cobras commenced its December slate by traveling to Homer last Monday night and, led by the strong all-around game of Azariah Wade, handled the Trojans 79-46.
Applying its pressure from the outset, Grimes led Homer 23-8 after one period and kept adding to that margin over the course of the next two periods, eventually doubling up the Trojans 68-34 before pulling the starters in the fourth quarter.
Thus, Wade didn’t play the entire game, but still connected on 27 points, the forward showing her expanded range by hitting on a trio of 3-pointers. In all, 11 different players go on the scoresheet, with Maria Naylor earning 13 points, Brianna Squier adding 12 points and Jenna Sloan getting six points.
All of this led to the home opener against Phoenix two nights later. Grimes had no trouble with it, prevailing 57-35 in a game more lopsided because most of the Firebirds’ points came after the Cobras’ starters sat for the fourth quarter.
Before that, the combination of constant pressure and timely baskets produced a 52-18 lead through three quarters. Wade couldn’t match her Homer numbers, but still led with 19 points as Naylor contributed 13 points. Point guard Abby Wilkinson had eight points, just ahead of Squier (seven points) and Mary Castricone, who had six points.
East Syracuse Minoa met ITC/Fowler last Tuesday and improved to 2-1 on the season with a 52-31 victory, keyed in large part by holding ITC/Fowler without a point during a 14-0 first quarter.
After seeing that lead melt away in the second period, the Spartans recovered by outscoring ITC/Fowler 16-4 in the third quarter. Loren Clifford led the charge, earning 14 points as Brigid McGinley added 12 points and Sam Valentine eight points, but all 10 ESM players that saw action got at least one field goal.