One of the stark realities for the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team is that, even with its terrific 17-3 regular season, it got no relief when it came to the Section III Class B playoff bracket.
Grimes, Bishop Ludden and Hannibal all had 17-3 regular-season records, but the Cobras got the no. 2 seed because the top-seeded Gaelic Knights had beaten them head-to-head on Feb. 9.
And with 19 teams in the sectional bracket, Grimes could not escape playing an opening-round game on Saturday against Vernon-Verona-Sherrril after the Red Devils beat the Raiders 55-27 in Thursday’s play-in contest.
Here, the score was similar, only now the Red Devils were on the wrong end of it as Grimes prevailed, 56-29, wearing down VVS in the course of building a 30-17 halftime lead and then pulling further away in the second half though it already had enough points for the win.
The most encouraging part for Cobras was that it was done without a big night from Azariah Wade, who had 10 points. Instead, it was Abby Wilkinson leading the way as she drained six 3-pointers to account for most of her 20 points and VVS couldn’t concentrate on her because of Wade and Brianna Squier, who poured in 14 points.
In Tuesday night’s sectional quarterfinal, Grimes would host no. 10 seed Phoenix, who ousted no. 7 seed Sherburne-Earlville 56-37. The winner would face no. 3 seed Hannibal or no. 6 seed and defending champion Westhill in this weekend’s semifinals.
Before all this, the Cobras altered its schedule, canceling a game against Rochester Mercy but picking up, for last Tuesday’s regular-season finale, state Class C no. 2-ranked Syracuse Academy of Science, a severe test that the Cobras passed as the duo of Wade and Squier led Grimes past the Atoms 52-34.
It didn’t start out that productive, the Cobras only getting six points in the first quarter but holding SAS scoreless for more than seven minutes with relentless defensive pressure. And even after the Atoms took its lone lead, 7-6, early in the second period, Grimes countered with an 8-0 run to grab the lead for good.
Still, a 16-10 halftime lead was far from safe, and the Cobras opened the third quarter with a 10-1 run that pushed the margin to double digits, something SAS could not overcome the rest of the way.
For a long while, Wade was outscoring the Atoms by herself, and she finished with 24 points. Squier helped Grimes put it away by scoring 10 of her 12 points in the second half as Wilkinson added nine points.
Defensively, the Cobras did a solid job containing SAS’s top player, Lyrik Jackson, holding her to 12 points and eight rebounds. Naviae Williams added seven points, but they all came in the fourth quarter, with the game out of reach.
