All had broken right for the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team in the early portion of the Section III Class B playoffs.
Right after the no. 7 seed Cobras’ tough first-round win over Hannibal on Feb. 16, no. 2 seed Adirondack was eliminated by no. 15 seed Vernon-Verona Sherrill.
That 66-46 win by the Red Devils did two things – knock out a top contender, and allowed Grimes to host VVS in last Wednesday’s sectional quarterfinal.
Of course, to fully take advantage of that break, the Cobras had to beat the Red Devils – and did so, getting out in front and staying there to prevail by a 48-39 margin.
It was Abby Wilkinson sparking Grimes during the second quarter, her back-to-back 3-pointers building a 22-15 advantage. She also scored just before halftime as the Cobras maintained that seven-point edge, 28-21, going to the break.
Wilkinson and Brianna Squier each had 10 points in the first half, carrying Grimes’ attack. But when it went cold in the third quarter, the Cobras’ defense made sure VVS didn’t inch closer.
The margin grew as much as 12 before the Red Devils, down the stretch, ate away at that lead, closing within 44-39 before Maria Naylor hit a crucial 3-pointer with less than a minute to play, all but sealing the win.
Squier finished with 17 points, but had a bigger impact on the boards as she piled up a season-best 20 rebounds. Wilkinson had 14 points and five assists as Naylor got all nine of her points from three 3-pointers. No VVS player scored in double figures as Alexa Kiser and Anna Rossi led with nine points apiece.
This leads to Saturday’s sectional Class B semifinal at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall, pitting Grimes against no. 2 seed South Jefferson, who had handled Chittenango and Utica-Notre Dame to get this far.
Meanwhile, in the Class AA sectional tournament, Fayetteville-Manlius ran right into top seed Cicero-North Syracuse last Tuesday night and lost, 62-34, to the Northstars.
The Hornets had tried twice to upend C-NS in the regular season, but lost by margins of 45-34 in December and 48-29 in January. Those games had featured solid defensive efforts by F-M, which provided some encouragement.
But the Northstars had learned from those encounters and, while waiting for its offense to crank up, never allowed the Hornets to get comfortable with its attack. F-M only managed eight points in the first half.
Things were better for the Hornets in the second half, mostly thanks to freshman Lexie Roe, who hit on five 3-pointers and got 17 points overall as Lily Fish added nine points.
C-NS was too good, though, putting four players in double figures as Amani Free led with 18 points, while Jessica Cook had 11 points. Julia Rowe and Brandi Feeney had 10 points apiece.
F-M’s season finished with an 11-11 mark, fairly good for a side without any senior starters. Roe, Fish, Alexandra Vinci, Alexis Schneider and Lexy Gray all should return for 2018-19.
