ONONDAGA COUNTY – Though faced with plenty of its own challenges this winter, the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team has also put together some of the best wins of any area squad.
And few were better than the 56-50 victory the Cobras pulled off over previously unbeaten Indian River in Monday’s opening round of the “Hoops for the Hospital” Classic.
IR entered the night at 7-0, led by Canisius-bound senior Adrien LaMora, who would maintain her top form as she put up 22 points against Grimes.
All of it, though, followed a first quarter where the Warriors had just two points. It gave the Cobras an early edge, one it maintained even when IR made a strong third-quarter push to move within two, 36-34.
Balance and depth in Grimes’ attack made the difference late. Natalie Musolino earned seven of her 15 points at the free-throw line as Jenna Sloan and Althea Simmons both got 11 points. Nayweil Ayeil had nine points and Rosalie Vincent added eight points.
A night later, Grimes lost 54-49 to Maine-Endwell, a game that was tight from start to finish. Sloan finished with 11 points, just ahead of Olivia Bitz’s total of 10 points as Ayeil got nine points, Vincent seven points and Musolino six points.
Just before the holiday break, Fayetteville-Manlius and Jamesville-DeWitt each took defeats at home against high-end opposition.
In the Hornets’ case, what made its 39-38 loss to Cicero-North Syracuse so frustrating was the way it played defense in the game’s middle stages.
Hot early shooting gave C-NS an 18-13 lead, but then F-M shut out the Northstars in the second quarter, allwoing it to earn a 24-18 advantage.
Neither team scored much in the third period, but the Northstars found its rhythm again in the fourth quarter, when a series of basketa allowed it to catch up and overtake the Hornets.
Ava Angello, with 15 points, and Lauren Clark, with 10 points, paced F-M, with Lydia Davidson adding five poins. C-NS saw Alita Carey-Santangelo lead the way with 16 points as she and Alexa Kulakowski, who had 13 points, accounted for most of the Northstars’ production.
Up at J-D, the Red Rams found itself falling 45-34 to Skaneateles, who had started 1-2 but then reeled off five wins in a row, including one over Bishop Grimes earlier in the month.
Outscored in every single quarter, J-D only saw Aniyah Neal, with 10 points, reach double figures, with Macy Durkin earning seven points. On the Skaneateles side, Maddy Ramsgard led with 14 points, with Ayla Pas’cal (12 points) and Maeve McNeil (10 points) close behind.
F-M was back in action Thursday against Auburn and again took a close defeat, falling 46-41 to the Maroons.
Even with 15 points from Ashley Schneider and 11 points from Angello, F-M could not quite keep up as Auburn’s Leah Middleton burned them for 30 points, 12 of them successful free throws.
