Safe to say, the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team has moved on from that string of late-December overtime defeats that nearly derailed its season.
The Cobras’ January tear continued as it sprinted to the first-place trophy in its own MLK Basketball Classic held over the holiday weekend honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In Sunday night’s opening round, Grimes faced Rochester Early College, an honorable mention entry in the state Classs B rankings, and overcame a rough start to prevail by a score of 78-65.
REC actually lead 19-14 through one period, but Grimes made that disappear by increasing defensive pressure in the second quarter and getting hot at the other end of the court during a 21-7 spurt to close the half.
Not going away, REC pulled within five, 53-48, going to the fourth quarter, but the Cobras would get away for good largely based on the work of Jonah Cummings, who set a career mark with 29 points, including four 3-pointers.
Shawn Gashi made sure REC couldn’t pull its defense to Cummings, earning 22 points of his own. David Mo added 12 points, while Lucci Vigliotti had nine points and Dom Delvecchio added six points.
In the other opening-round game, St. Francis (Buffalo), no. 14 in the state Class A rankings, routed Syracuse’s Institute of Technology Central, so the final pitted Grimes against the Red Raiders – and the Cobras found enough energy to pull it out, 64-56.
Grimes was playing its fourth game in six days, and knew from the outset that St. Francis would push them for 32 minutes. Neither side got away in a first half that ended in a 27-27 deadlock.
They were still tied, 29-29, when the Cobras scored seven straight points in the third quarter. The Raiders stayed close, but every time it tried to pull back even, Grimes made a key play such as Vigliotti hitting a 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, drawing the foul – and making the free throw.
That was one of four 3-pointers Vigliotti hit on a day where he finished with 20 points, just behind Gashi. who led Grimes with 21 points. Cummings, with 11 points, and Mo, with eight points, offered ample support.
The win improved Grimes’ overall record to 9-4, but it’s gone 6-0 in January and will visit Central Square on Friday night.
