Various holiday tournaments across Central New York gave area high school girls basketball teams a chance to attain some momentum before plunging into the new year.
Both Bishop Grimes and Fayetteville-Manlius took part in the Hoops for the Hospital Classic at SRC Arena, which opened on Friday with Grimes facing Indian River and F-M taking on Owego Free Academy.
The Cobras were successful, topping Indian river 51-39, a result made even more impressive by the fact that Grimes entered the game with a 2-5 record and had lost 58-51 to this same Warriors squad a month earlier.
But in the rematch, the Cobras dominated the first half, stifling IR with its defense and steadily gaining a 26-11 lead, which it protected well once the Warriors started making baskets in the third quarter.
Offensively, Grimes was far less dependent on Abby Wilkinson – and it worked, Sarah Snavlin and Lora Marial each scoring 12 points to help out Wilkinson, who still had 14 points. Nia Gray led IR with 15 points as Jayanne Alcock added 10 points.
Later that same night, F-M lost, 57-41, to Owego, who jumped on the Hornets 18-8 in the first quarter and never got caught, despite Lexie Roe pouring in 21 points as Ava Angello got eight points and Lily Fish added six points.
So on Saturday it was Grimes against Owego and F-M against Indian River, but the results would reverse themselves as the Hornets handled the Warriors 47-25 in the consolation game and the Cobras lost, 52-39, to the Indians in the championship game.
Going first, F-M shut down Indian River for most of the second half, holding the Warriors to just seven total points as its defense allowed more chances on the other end that the Hornets eventually converted.
Remarkably, Roe matched IR all by herself, scoring 25 points, hitting on four 3-pointers. The main help came from Elena Raolini, who earned eight points.
When Grimes took the court against Owego, it got the same taste of the Indians’ quality that F-M did, not reaching double digits in points in any of the last three periods after a 15-15 first-quarter tie.
Wilkinson still had a strong effort, with 16 points, eight rebounds and three assists as Alicia Kelly gained eight points and Jenna Sloan had seven points. Marial finished with seven rebounds as Sloan and Naywell Ayeil had five rebounds apiece.
Not far from all this, Christian Brothers Academy went up against Corcoran last Friday and got off to a great start, but could not sustain it in a 48-42 defeat to the Cougars.
This result was more meaningful than others in that it gave Corcoran’s long-time head coach, Jim Marsh, his 500th career victory. He is the second girls basketball coach in Section III to reach that mark after Westhill’s Sue Ludwig did so.
And it came in a game where CBA led most of the way, only to have the Cougars hang around and then, in the fourth quarter, take charge with a scoring surge from freshman Tayahja Scott, who finished with 28 points.
Now trailing 44-38, the Brothers closed the gap to two with less than a minute to play, a 3-pointer by Brooke Jarvis the catalyst as Jarvis would lead her side with 19 points.
But two Corcoran steals in the final seconds led to four clinching points, and the Brothers lost despite the work from Jarvis and 10 points from Leana Heitzman. Aneesha Millhouse had 11 points and Shondra Henry 15 rebounds for the Cougars.
