For each of the Bishop Grimes basketball programs, the events of Tuesday night at Christian Brothers Academy were something close to perfect.
There was the boys winning 58-44 and, by doing so, giving legendary head coach Bob McKenney his 600th career win – and on the same court where, just three days earlier, Brothers head coach Buddy Wleklinski had reached 500 career wins.
Just before that, the Grimes girls team rose up and, winning its fifth game in a row, handed 9-0, state Class A no. 18-ranked CBA its first defeat of the season in a 38-35 decision.
Much of the attention, before and after the games, was on McKenney, who had earned most of his wins in a long tenure at Jamesville-DeWitt that included five state championships before he came to Grimes in 2015.
“It (the 600th win) is a cool feeling,” said McKenney. “We knew we were going to get it at some point, and doing so is a relief, so now we can focus on getting better the rest of the season.”
Like so many other coaches who reach such lofty milestone, McKenney gave most of the credit to those around him.
“I’ve had great coaches to work with and have been blessed with great players,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing.”
McKenney’s current group of Grimes players were quite eager to get that 600th win at the expense of a CBA side that had won four of five games following a 1-4 start.
An intense, hard-fought battle turned in the Cobra’s favor when it scored nine straight points late in the second quarter to break out of a 16-16 tie, and it never trailed again.
Keeping a healthy margin throughout the second half, Grimes only worried when CBA pulled within six, 41-35, early in the fourth quarter, but A.J. Burnett and Ian Denton struck for back-to-back 3-pointers, and the Brothers never got closer than nine again.
Denton produced 18 points, just ahead of Joe Wike, whose 15 points included four 3-pointers. For the Brothers, Dan Anderson, with 17 points, was the only player to score in double figures.
As the final buzzer sounded, the Cobras’ players gathered in a group hug with McKenney, then joined parents and fans in donning special white T-shirts to mark the occasion.
Whatever happened in that game, though, it was already a night to remember for Grimes because of the way the girls Cobras managed to take down an undefeated CBA side in the first of two regular-season encounters.
From the outset, Grimes played with intensity, especially on the defensive side, where Jenna Sloan, with plenty of help from her teammates, contained the Brothers’ second all-time leading scorer, Brooke Jarvis, holding her to just three points.
Lora Marial scored all 10 of the Cobras’ points in the first quarter. Then her teammates got involved, pushing Grimes to a 20-11 lead late in the second period before CBA fought back and went in front, 27-25, early in the final period.
But with Marial and Sloan both producing big baskets, Grimes countered with a 12-0 spurt and led 37-27 with less than four minutes left, but even as Jarvis sat on the bench the rest of the way, the Brothers nearly rallied to win it.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Leanna Heitmann, who finished with 16 points, helped pull CBA within two, 37-35, and it had two different opportunites at go-ahead 3-pointers in the final minutes that rimmed out.
A late free throw by Rhonee Shea Pal helped seal Grimes’ win as she had seven points and Sloan eight points to help Marial, who led all scorers with 19 points.
Having endured its first setback this season, CBA’s girls returned to action 24 hours later at Oswego and pounded the Buccaneers 70-35.
Jarvis returned to her usual central role, earning 23 points, but just as impressive was Emily Hall setting a career mark of 22 points as Maura Clare Conan added nine points.
Hall did even better on Friday night at Skaneateles, unloading 29 points in a 64-50 win over the Lakers that also featured Jarvis and Maura Clare Conan each getting 14 points.
Grimes also won on Friday in a wild 56-53 decision over Homer, overcoming an early 18-4 deficit by outscoring the Trojans 37-17 in the next two periods and then hanging on late.
Marial had much to do with the comeback, earning a majority of her 24 points from six 3-pointers, helped by 10 points from Sloan and 12 points from Naywel Ayeil.
