When the Fayetteville-Manlius and Bishop Grimes boys basketball teams left the “Hoops for the Hospital” Tournament, they were in very different moods.
The Hornets, by beating the Cobras in double overtime and then putting a scare into Section II power Shaker in the finals, had given itself some confidence, while the Cobras were fuming as the F-M defeat was followed by an OT loss to Bishop Kearney – Grimes’ third defeat in a game that went beyond regulation in six days.
Yet when play started in 2017, the courses reversed as F-M tripped in a 70-51 defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse and Grimes unloaded its frustrations on visiting Cortland, whipping the Purple Tigers 84-36.
C-NS was in the midst of a four-game skid, including back-to-back defeats at the Bottar-Leone Holiday Classic Dec. 29-30. A first-round loss to Westhill was followed by a 63-55 defeat to host Christian Brothers Academy.
None of this indicated that C-NS would turn it around against F-M. Yet the Northstars, back on its home floor, outscored the Hornets in every single quarter, steadily building a 32-26 halftime lead and using a 21-12 push through the third quarter to put it out of reach.
This turned into a showcase for Lucas Merluzzi, who led in four statistical categories with 16 points, seven steals, five assists and six rebounds. Cody and Gunn both got 10 points, with Jordan Garnett stepping up for seven points and five rebounds.
F-M saw Tim Zapisek earn 12 points, but no one else hit double figures. Jawaan Crouch had nine points, while Nick Perry earned eight points. Ryan Salzberg and Nick Goodfellow had six points apiece.
Grimes had a far different experience against Cortland, steadily working its way to a 42-21 halftime lead and then unloading in a 29-9 third quarter where the Purple Tigers could not stop anything.
Lucci Vigliotti hit six 3-pointers to account for most of his 24 points. Shawn Gashi had a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, while Jonah Cummings had 13 points and Dom Delvecchio added 12 points. David Mo (nine points), Skylar Gashi (seven points) and Gop Arop (six points) also had solid showings.
On Friday, Grimes made the short trip to East Syracuse Minoa and would rout the Spartans 80-44. Gradually, the Cobras assumed control, leading 20-9 after one period and stretching out that margin to 39-21 by halftime.
And it kept getting more lopsided as Shawn Gashi hit five 3-pointers on his way to 26 points overall. Delvecchio had 14 points, with Vigliotti adding 10 points as Cummings got eight points and Arop again scored six points.
ESM would have just one player, Dennis Benjack, get into double figures with 13 points. David Dabrowski managed eight points as Gabe Holloman got seven points. Colton Cwikla and Kevin Richardson had six points apiece.
Back home on Friday to face Nottingham, F-M got into another close contest, but this time lost, 46-44, to the Bulldogs, and what made it more frustrating was that the Hornets used a 16-4 push through the third quarter to take a 37-31 lead.
However, Nottingham rallied behind the likes of Jakair Sanchez (15 points) and Malcolm Nelson (12 points) and outscored F-M 15-7 in the fourth quarter. Crouch, with 22 points, accounted for half the Hornets’ offense, with Zapisek getting seven points and Brad Procita earning six points.
