ONONDAGA COUNTY – Ignoring any possible fatigue, the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team welcomed another main rival, Bishop Ludden, to East Syracuse last Friday night and rolled to an 83-52 victory over the Gaelic Knights.
The Gaelic Knights arrived exactly one week after Christian Brothers Academy did so, and while the Cobras lost to the Brothers, it had played close and had not seen any of its confidence waver.
Instead, during its annual MLK Tournament Grimes claimed the first-place trophy, rallying in the championship game to beat Section II’s Catholic Central 72-65.
A close first half ended with Grimes trailing 32-30, but led by Deng Garang, it pulled out in front in the third quarter, only to see Catholic rally late in regulation and, at 61-61, send the game to OT.
But after giving up the first basket, the Cobras’ defense settled in and Garang, with his go-ahead 3-pointers, set up an 11-2 closing stretch.
For the night, Garang had 32 points, converting four 3-pointers. Nate Abernethy finished with 17 points, Erik Wall adding 12 points and Jon Corl having 11 points.
This followed the Jan. 15 opening-round game, a 71-22 romp over the brand-new varsity team at OnTech. Here the bench saw extensive action and all 12 Grimes players scored, with only Garang (13 points) and Chris Kulakowski (11 points) hitting double figures.
And when Grimes played again on Friday against visiting Bishop Ludden, it proved another lopsided victory for the Cobras, who handled the Gaelic Knights 83-52.
While gradually building its big margin, the Cobras saw Garang pick up 22 points, with Corl close behind as he got 17 points. Jon Farstler earned 10 points, while Wall, Abernethy and Frank Sgroi had six points apiece.
CBA would, on the same Friday that Grimes beat Ludden, have a second chance against a Syracuse Academy of Science side it lost to in double overtime earlier in the month.
Clearly remembering that outcome and bent on getting even, the Brothers did so in a comprehensive manner, jumping out to a big early lead on the Atoms and rolling to a 66-47 victory.
Clamping down on defense, CBA almost doubled SAS’s output in the first half, not letting up until it had built a 39-21 margin that it had little trouble protecting the rest of the way.
Braeden Burns finished with 18 points, while Steve DeRegis got four 3-pointers on his way to 16 points overall. Will Harrigan had 10 points and Luke Boule eight points.
Before that, the Brothers first rolled past Phoenix 59-34 last Tuesday as it outscored the Firebirds 22-6 in the first quarter and breezed from there. Burns had 16 points, with Ethan Harris getting eight points as Boule and Scott Strait had seven points apiece.
Yet right after beating SAS, CBA met Class AA Nottingham on Saturday and took a 57-46 defeat, the game even most of the way except for a third quarter when the Bulldogs outscored the Brothers 20-6.
Again, it was Burns, with 20 points, and DeRegis, with 17 points (including five 3-pointers), at the forefront, but the rest of the roster had just four field goals Four Nottingham players – Malachi McCurty (17 points), Steyvon Jones (14 points), Sir Thompson (11 points) and Demarius McCarthy (10 points) – scored in double figures.
