CENTRAL NEW YORK – A 5-1 run through December had the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team in good position heading into a tougher league slate in January.
And it began last Tuesday with a trip to face unbeaten, state Class B no. 7-ranked Westhill, where the Cobras were done in by red-hot early shooting and could not fully answer it in a 78-65 loss to the Warriors.
Deng Garang put up 14 first-half points, but Grimes saw Westhill unload for 11 3-pointers in the first half, nine of them from Shawn Mayes (five) and Kam Langdon (four), that produced a 41-29 halftime edge
Then the Warriors turned to Omar Robinson and Luke Gilmartin to account for most of the second-half damage, the pair combining for 28 points as a 15-3 run late in the third quarter all but put the game away.
Garang finished with 25 points, helped by Nate Abernethy and Jon Corl, who each got 16 points. Mayes and Gilmartin each had 20 points ahead of Langdon and Robinon’s 16 points apiece.
Two nights later, Grimes returned to the same neighborhood, this time to face Bishop Ludden, and had a different result, taking over in the third quarter to beat the Gaelic Knights 60-48.
Already leading 31-27 at the break, the Cobras went on a decisive 19-8 push through the third, led by Garang, who finished with 20 points, and Corl, who got 16 points. Abernethy, with 12 points, was close behind.
In a non-league game on Saturday, Grimes edged Buffalo’s St. Francis 55-52, taking charge with a 21-10 push in the second quarter and hanging on late. Abernethy and Erik Wall got16 points apiece and Garang adding 12 points.
Having lost four consecutive games to open its season, Jamesville-DeWitt broke that skid on the next-to-last day of 2022 when it knocked off Central Square 46-37.
Even with a 4-1 mark going into the game, the Redhawks were shut down early, the Red Rams jumping out 14-5 and then spending the rest of the game largely leaning on its defense.
Trent Hughes, with 20 points, and Anthony Stickle, with 14 points, accounted for most of J-D’s offense, with the Rams not letting anyone on Central Square get more than Shane Berquist’s total of 10 points.
Making it back-to-back wins last Tuesday, the Rams topped Cortland 50-44 as it struggled mightily on offense in the first half, held to 13 points by the Purple Tigers.
Late in the game, though, J-D got hot from the field. Stickle had 20 points, most of it from four 3-pointers, while Ian Delpha stepped up with 12 points and Hughes got 10 points.
Making it three in a row on Friday, J-D defeated PSLA-Fowler 51-48, building a 28-20 halftime advantage and finding its offense again late after the Falcons held it to four points in the third quarter.
Stickle got eight of his 17 points at the free-throw line. Delpha finished with 11 points, while Hughes again had 10 points. Spencer Wellington nearly carried Fowler to victory, finishing with 25 points.
East Syracuse Minoa, coming off back-to-back defeats at its own holiday tournament, rebounded on Dec. 30 with its own 59-46 victory over Fowler.
Down early, The Spartans took over in the game’s middle stages, outscoring the Falcons 35-20 in the second and third quarters as four players reached double figures.
Austin Betts, with 15 points, led the well-balanced attack. Cole Thomas got seven of his 13 points at the free-throw line as A.J. Graham also had 13 points and Tyler Quarry contributed 11 points.
Then ESM lost last Tuesday at Fulton, its 73-55 defeat far different than their first encounter Dec. 13 when the Red Raiders pulled it out 52-50 after surrendering the game’s first 14 points.
Here, Fulton got the big jump, building a 42-18 advantage by halftime, far more than the Spartans could overcome despite 12 points from Mikah Combs and 11 points from Thomas. Fulton’s Adam Baldwin hit six 3-pointers on his way to 27 points overall.
More frustration followed in Friday’s narrow 54-53 loss to Oswego, the Spartans not quite able to rally from a 32-23 halftime deficit, though Thomas, with 17 points, equaled the Buccaneers’ Moreno Fenty for individual honors and Graham added 12 points.
