For any basketball team, avenging an earlier defeat is nice. Christian Brothers Academy got to experience it twice.
Exactly three weeks after getting swept on its home court, the Brothers put together its own girls-boys sweep of Bishop Grimes, and pulled it off Tuesday night on the Cobras’ home floor.
In the girls game, CBA prevailed 48-39, the kind of tough win that eased the pain of having lost 38-35 to Grimes on Jan. 14 after it had opened the season 9-0.
Since that time, the Brothers had gone 5-2, and as it faced the Cobras again it seized command with a strong first quarter where, led by Leana Heitmann, it broke out to a 16-8 advantage.
But then CBA went cold in the game’s middle stages, partially due to shots off target, but also due to a Grimes defense that again made things difficult.
The Brothers were held to four points in the third period as the Cobras went in front 30-29, but on this occasion CBA absorbed those blows and struck back down the stretch.
Heitmann worked her total to 19 points and Brooke Jarvis finished with 10 points, while Maura Clare Conan had seven points.
No Grimes player scored in double figures, Lora Marial held to five points as Rhonee Shea Pal led with nine points, Jenna Sloan had eight points and Naywel Ayeil had six points.
Now it was the boys game, where the Cobras wanted to build on the victory that got head coach Bob McKenney to 600 career wins, but could not do so.
CBA, winning for the 10th time in 12 games, prevailed 65-58, the key sequence coming in the third quarter after the two sides played to a 23-23 first-half deadlock.
Led by the likes of Sam Haas and Dan Anderson, the Brother outscored Grimes 19-12 in that third period, and through a tense final period managed to answer every time the Cobras tried to catch up.
Haas had 18 points and Anderson got 16 points, with Sacario Williams contributing a season-high 12 points as Colin Kelly put up eight points.
Grimes’ Ian Denton led all scorers with 20 points. Jack Gutchess got 12 points, with Joe Wike earning nine points and A.J. Burnett adding eight points.
Friday’s winter snowstorm prevented Bishop Grimes from playing its girls/boys doubleheader against Bishop Ludden, but the girls game would get made up on Sunday afternoon and the Cobras lost 54-43 to the Gaelic Knights.
From the time it trailed 15-7 after one period, Grimes was in catch-up mode, yet could not put a sustained run together despite Sloan’s 17 points and Marial’s 11 points. Shea Pal had eight points and Ayeil seven points as Ludden freshman Amarah Streiff put in 24 points.
That same day, the Grimes boys won 86-79 over Bishop Kearney, building a 64-47 lead through three quarters as Byam Mugushu hit five 3-pointers on his way to a career-high 24 points. Wike had 16 points and Gutchess got 15 points, while Burnett (11 points) also hit double figures.
Far from all this, Manlius-Pebble Hill saw a five-game win streak end but may have proven, in the process, that it could be a tough foe for anyone in the post-season.
The Trojans lost last Monday 44-41 to Hamilton, a team parked in the state Class D rankings for much of the season that moved out in front after MPH led 15-11 through one period.
Though it held the Emerald Knights to just six points in the fourth quarter, the Trojans, down 35-31, could not quite make up the deficit as James Kelly got 15 points and Alex Abrams added 12 points. Shontez Anderson had seven points.
Then MPH ran into state Class C no. 9-ranked Weedsport and lost 73-44 to the Warriors, falling behind 32-6 in the first quarter as it was missing two starters. Anderson still finished with 23 points, while Dan Braverman had eight points.
