CENTRAL NEW YORK – Each of the last two full seasons for the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team included long, exciting runs to the Section III Class B championship game.
Here, in 2022-23, it was supposed to be more difficult without stars like Jenna Sloan, Naywel Ayeil, Natalie Musolino and Rosalie Vincent, but the Cobras got a big season-opening win last Tuesday when it went to Marcellus and fought past the Mustangs 32-31.
This was mostly about the Cobras’ defense, which took over in the third quarter by holding Marcellus to two points as it erased a 24-17 halftime deficit.
Each side found it difficult to score in the fourth quarter, but with the game tied 31-31 in the final seconds, seventh-grade guard Aaliyah Zachery was fouled on a rebound shot with 4.6 seconds left.
Zachery, who already had impresed with 11 points in her varsity debut, hit one of the two free throws. Marcellus had a shot from half-court to win it at the buzzer, but it crashed off the backboard.
Between them, Zachery and Olivia Bitz, who accounted for 11 points, had most of Grimes’ production, with the other nine points split between Loyi Mugushu and Kierra Baxter.
Jamesville-DeWitt had got off to a confident start with its victory Nov. 26-27 in Baldwinsville’s Bill Middleton Tip-Off Tournament, but then struggled last Tuesday in a 64-34 loss to Liverpool.
The Warriors returned most of its lineup from a season ago, including St. John’s University-bound senior Neveah Wingate, and a big part of the Red Rams’ strategy was to try and contain her.
That part of it worked, as Wingate got into foul trouble and managed just eight points. But Liverpool took charge with a 10-0 run early in the second quarter, and when the Rams threatened to make it interesting, the Warriors answered with a decisive 13-0 spurt that bridged the third and fourth periods.
Kaylyn Sweeney and senior Janea Hamilton-Brown offered off the bench. Sweeney nabbed 11 of her 13 points in that second quarter, while Hamilton-Brown also got 13 points.
To say that J-D responded well to this defeat would be understating what it accomplished last Thursday in its local showdown with Grimes.
The Rams routed the Cobras 56-17, its defense never letting Grimes score more than five points in any single period and turning a vast array of turnovers and other mistakes into baskets.
Aniyah Neal led the way, gaining 13 points, but Sadie Withers (12 points) and Ava Sandroni (10 points) also found double figures as Merris Kessler added six points. Zachery led Grimes with eight points.
East Syracuse Minoa began its season on Friday with a confident performance of its own against Chittenango, roaring to a 41-25 victory.
Limiting the Bears to two points in the first quarter, ESM built a sizable early lead and never let go of it, up 36-16 through three periods as Aniyah Jones led both sides with 15 points. Leah Chaavoustie had six points, with Angelina Polcaro adding five points.
