Perhaps it was supposed to happen this way.
If the Jamesville-DeWitt and Bishop Grimes boys basketball teams win their respective Section III Class A quarterfinals on Tuesday night, they face each other in next Friday’s semifinal at SRC Arena, an ultimate showdown between Cobras coach Bob McKenney and the Red Rams side he led to so much glory.
As the no. 2 seed, J-D faces no. 10 seed Carthage in its quarterfinal after the Comets hit a 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer to beat no. 10 seed Fowler 66-65, while Grimes, holding the no. 3 seed, awaits a quarterfinal with no. 6 seed Homer, who routed no. 11 seed Hartford 64-42 to advance.
J-D was quite emphatic in its last regular-season work before the playoffs, hosting Auburn last Tuesday night and prevailing 75-48 – a result more impressive given that Auburn, later in the week, would beat Nottingham in the opening round of the sectional Class AA tournament.
Having already gained control in the first half, J-D, with a 31-18 edge at the break, proceeded to score 30 points in the third quarter, its highest total in any single period this season, to extend the margin to 61-34.
Buddy Boeheim had yet another double-double of 31 points and 10 rebounds, adding five assists and four steals. Darvin Lovette returned to the lineup and earned 14 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks as Ronald Lewis got 12 points and six rebounds. Matt Carlin got eight points and six rebounds.
Grimes, fresh off its big come-from-behind win at CBA on Feb. 10, closed its regular season at Mexico last Tuesday and parlayed a fast start into a 72-62 victory over the Tigers.
Before Mexico could settle down, the Cobras had a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. Having seen the margin grow to 41-24 by halftime, Grimes eased up a bit in the third period, and the Tigers cut the deficit to single digits, 52-43, but it wouldn’t get much closer.
Shawn Gashi led the Cobras with 23 points, including three 3-pointers. Three other Grimes players – Lucci Vigliotti (16 points), Jonah Cummings (12 points) and David Mo (11 points) – hit double figures, too, overcoming a Mexico effort where Dylan Demong had 19 points, Dakota Deasy 17 points and Jace Eastman 13 points.
While Grimes and J-D got ready for their post-season assignments, East Syracuse Minoa was ending its season at 3-17, but at least the third win came at the end when the Spartans, in last Tuesday night’s Senior Night Game, edging Fulton 55-54.
Not until the Red Raiders’ last-second shot clanged off the rim at the horn did ESM feel safe, which only figured. An 18-10 first-quarter edge nearly got wiped out by halftime, Fulton pulling within 29-27, and for the rest of the night neither side would find much separation.
The Spartans hung on with solid defense combined with an attack mostly consisting of Gabe Holloman drawing contact, as 11 of his 21 points came at the free-throw line, and Kevin Richardson joining in with 18 points. Colton Ciwkla added eight points as Jake Gugula (15 points) and Gage McHenry (12 points) led Fulton’s efforts.
