When the boys basketball teams from Bishop Grimes and Christian Brothers Academy met up last Friday night at Buddy Wleklinski Court, they were going in different directions as the Cobras had won 10 of 11, its lone defeat a tough loss at Bishop Ludden on Feb. 13, while the Brothers were reeling from back-to-back defeats.
For a long while, it looked like CBA would turn that trend around, but in the last two minutes Grimes pulled off its biggest escape of the season, erasing an eight-point deficit to stun the Brothers 73-69.
Throughout most of the game, CBA kept pace and even got in front of Grimes, helped in a small part by the Cobras’ foul trouble, but mostly because Kevin Underwood proved unstoppable, the forward working his way to 38 points, most of it the first three quarters.
The Brothers were up, 51-45, going to the fourth quarter, withstanding every Cobras rally as the lead grew to eight with less than two minutes left. Then Grimes got red-hot, drilling outside shots that included Skyler Gashi’s 3-pointer that tied it, 69-69, with time winding down.
CBA gave the ball back to Grimes, and with three seconds left Shawn Gashi, again from outside the arc, sank the go-ahead 3 with three seconds left. A Brothers foul allowed T.J. Bradford to make the clinching free throw.
Lucci Vigliotti managed 26 points, including six 3-pointers, to keep Grimes close most of the way. Dom Delvecchio had 12 points as Bradford, Jonah Cummings and Shawn Gashi had 10 points apiece. Other than Underwood, only Zeff Edenfield, with 10 points, got to double figures for CBA as Dan Damico was held to eight points and Jack Carpenter got six points.
CBA had, of course, fallen to Jamesville-DeWitt on Feb. 4. In the follow-up game at Syracuse Academy of Science last Tuesday night, the Brothers made a great second-half comeback, only to have it negated in the fourth quarter as it lost, 86-75, to the Atoms.
Right from the outset, the pace was furious, just to SAS’s liking as it sprinted to the lead and took a 43-35 advantage to intermission. For a while, CBA made that adjustment and, in a high-scoring third quarter, grabbed a 61-59 lead as Underwood was on his way to 28 points and Damico would finish with 25 points.
Just as quickly, though, the Atoms answered, taking the lead for good as Symir Torrence worked his way to 21 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Noreon Williams had a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. TraeVontae Tape (14 points) and Nessiah Smith (11 points) also reached double figures.
Grimes, coming off that tough loss at Ludden, was tested in a big way again by Homer last Tuesday night, but survived it to beat the Trojans 81-70.
Homer carried a 12-4 record into the game, and didn’t get fazed one bit by the Cobras as the two sides played to a 34-34 halftime tie. But torrid 3-point shooting from Vigliotti and Shawn Gashi and Vigliotti helped Grimes move in front, 58-52, by the end of the third quarter and never let go of that lead.
All told, Gashi had 30 points, including four 3-pointers and six successful free throws. Vigliotti connected five times beyond the arc on his way to 24 points as that duo, along with David Mo (10 points), accounted for most of the Cobras’ production.
J-D, meanwhile, had followed up the sweep of CBA by prevailing 70-55 over Oswego last Tuesday night. Trailing 17-16 after one quarter, the Red Rams proceeded to outscore the Buccaneers 37-20 over the course of the next two periods to seize control.
And it turned into another supreme showcase for Buddy Boeheim, who nearly got a triple-double, pouring in 36 points and grabbing 18 rebounds while also earning eight assists. Oswego couldn’t gang up on Boeheim, either, since Matt Carlin was gaining 19 points and Ronald Lewis got eight points, plus four rebounds and three assists.
Things got scary for J-D Friday night against Fulton as it trailed the 4-14 RedRaiders by one, 49-48, going into the fourth quarter before stellar defense and a few key baskets allowed the Rams to escape with a 60-56 victory.
In fact, it was a 21-11 second quarter that got Fulton in front, 34-28, at the break. Gradually, the Rams rallied, seeing Boeheim amass 29 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but also having Carlin produce big numbers as he got 22 points, mostly on six 3-pointers, plus eight rebounds and six blocks. The Red Raiders lost despite 16 points apiece from Jake Gugula and Connor Broderick, plus 12 points from Ryan Michaels.
East Syracuse Minoa played Saturday and lost, 71-62, to Fowler, who used a 16-7 push through the second quarter to move in front, 33-25, by halftime.
Despite 24 points from Colton Cwikla and 21 points from Gabe Holloman (they combined to hit 21 free throws), the Spartans could not catch up as Conner Clappin got 11 points. Fowler got 20 points from Deamore Francis, 19 points from Davonta Stackhouse and 16 points from Dennis Jones.
