Each of the Bishop Grimes basketball teams had plowed their way through tough regular-season slates, with the hope that the ups and downs endured here would lead to resilience once the Section III playoffs started.
On the girls side, Grimes would close the regular season Tuesday against a long-time nemesis, Westhill, but only after tough games late last week against Skaneateles and Hannibal.
First, there was last Thursday’s trip to Skaneateles, where the Cobras, getting a big lift from Sarah Snavlin, took over in the second quarter and propelled itself past the Lakers 59-46.
Through an active first quarter, Grimes only led by one, 19-18, but then applied heavy pressure and shut down Skaneateles for the rest of the half, outscoring them 17-3.
Trying to recover in the second half, the Lakers did get 14 points from Chloe Metz and 10 points from Ryley Pas’cal, but the Cobras held Skaneatles 1,000-point scorer Olivia Dobrovosky to just nine points, keeping her contained all night.
Meanwhile, Snavlin set a career mark with 19 points, mostly from five 3-pointers. That took pressure off Abby Wilkinson, who had 16 points, and Brianna Squier, who got 12 points.
Homer would visit on Saturday afternoon, a day where Grimes honored its two playing seniors, Squier and Maria Naylor, and both would lead the way as the Cobras pounded the Trojans 75-44.
The festivities did not distract Grimes one bit as it bolted to a 21-7 lead by the end of the first quarter. Even when Homer settled down, the Cobras would put together a 28-point third quarter that all but sealed the outcome.
Squier worked inside for 20 points, while Naylor hit four 3-pointers to account for all of her 12 points and Wilkinson chimed in with 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Jenna Sloan had eight points as Caley Cornwell, Homer’s all-time leading scorer, led her side, finishing with 19 points.
Back on Thursday night, the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team hosted Syracuse Academy of Science, and got off to a nearly flawless start that, combined with David Mo’s career-best effort, helped contribute to a 72-53 victory over the Atoms.
No doubt, the Cobras remembered that SAS beat them 52-44 on Dec. 11. Nearly two months later, both teams were different, but Grimes was bent on payback and grabbed a 21-9 lead on the Atoms by the end of the first quarter.
Mo could not be contained, hitting on 12 field goals, four of them 3-pointers, plus five free throws as he amassed 33 points. He didn’t work alone, either, as Nate Gay got 12 points and T.J. Bradford had 10 points. Tong Mading finished with eight points.
For its regular-season finale, Grimes will host Bishop Ludden, a rematch of a Feb. 1 meeting and the last regular-season game for retiring Gaelic Knights coach Pat Donnelly, who was a teammate of Cobras coach Bob McKenney at Potsdam State.
