What gives an early indication of the quality of the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team was the way it responded to its season-opening Nov. 30 loss to Baldwinsville.
The Cobras won twice last week, including an impressive effort at Westhill last Wednesday where it jumped out to a big early lead and then held on late to defeat the two-time defending sectional Class B champion Warriors 64-56.
David Mo set the game’s tone, pouring in 10 points during the first quarter, as much as the entire Westhill squad. The Cobras took it from there, eventually building a 34-19 advantage by intermission.
For the most part, Grimes maintained that margin until the fourth quarter, when the Warriors charged, mainly due to Zach Brown, who had carried his team’s offense early and then kept on going until he finished with a game-high 29 points.
Grimes held on in large part because Mo, who got 23 points, had some more substantial help, especially from T.J. Bradford, who had 12 points, and Gop Arop, who came off the bench to score nine points.
Before this, Grimes went to Institute of Technology Central last Monday night and earned its first win of the season, routing the Eagles 89-55.
All 10 players that saw action got at least one field goal, with Bradford (20 points) and Mo (19 points) leading the way. Nate Gay had 15 points and Jack Gutchess got 10 points, with Naiche Cook (seven points) and Colby Evans (six points) close behind.
And after it beat Westhill, Grimes confronted Albany Academy Saturday and lost, 82-62. Though all 10 Cobras that saw action had at least one field goal, none had more than the 11 points put up by Mo and the 10 points from Gutchess.
East Syracuse Minoa moved to 4-1 on the season last Tuesday by defeating Marcellus 50-38, a game that was low-scoring throughout the first half as the Spartans found it difficult to do much against the Mustangs’ defense.
However, an 18-10 push through the third quarter put ESM in control, with Devin Moscato-Buffaloe the catalyst as he finished with a game-high 19 points. Dennis Benjack had eight points, with James Ferns (seven points) and Nick Peterson (six points) close behind.
Christian Brothers Academy, off to an 0-2 start, got into the win column last Tuesday at Phoenix, again playing effective defense and this time getting rewarded for it as it beat the Firebirds 56-36.
Even though Phoenix’s Jack Allen was able to earn his 1,000th career point in the game and his team led 20-19 at halftime, the Brothers took over in the third quarter with an 18-4 outburst, most of it from Aaron Clendenin, who finished with 18 points, and Nick Valenti, who had 16 points.
CBA now looked for back-to-back wins at Cicero-North Syracuse Friday night, but could not quite get there as the Northstars (still coached by CBA Athletic Hall of Fame member John Haas) prevailed 60-46.
Most of the game was played on even terms, but the Brothers never were able to overcome a brutal first quarter where it scored just two points and C-NS grabbed a double-digit lead, never to relinquish it.
Clendenin recovered from that early slump to produce 16 points, with Valenti and Dan Anderson each getting nine points. For the Northstars, Justin Delvecchio had 16 points and six rebounds as Nick DeMonte got 13 points, six rebounds and four steals.
In Saturday’s Syracuse Showcase Basketball Invitational, CBA took a 68-51 defeat to Nottingham, the game close until the Bulldogs outscored the Brothers 16-5 in the fourth quarter.
Valenti still had 21 points, while Clendenin got 14 points. Nottingham featured Jaden Ezomo, who earned 22 points and six rebounds as Mazi Jackson gained 21 points, including four 3-pointers.
Manlius-Pebble Hill continued to show that it was not the pushover of seasons past, putting up a tough fight in last Tuesday’s game at Onondaga, even though it lost 70-62 to the Tigers.
OCS threatened to run away during the game’s middle stages, eventually building a 61-43 lead through three quarters, but the Trojans made a furious late comeback attempt.
And unlike its previous three games, the offense wasn’t all about Kendale Thompson. Alex Abrams matched Thompson’s total of 20 points and Grant Lewis, with 16 points, was close behind. Wes Corr nearly had a triple-double for the Tigers with 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
