CENTRAL NEW YORK – If the Bishop Grimes boys basketball team wanted the emotional satisfaction of a Section III Class A championship, it would have to get past the side that denied it to the Cobras in 2022.
Just as it did one year ago, the Cobras met New Hartford in Friday’s sectional semifinals at SRC Arena. And once again, the Spartans got the best of the battle, claiming a wild 81-71 decision.
Grimes, even with its top seed, faced a challenging quarterfinal Tuesday against no. 9 seed Utica Academy of Science, but did enough to beat the Atoms 63-55.
A tough schedule with thousands of miles of bus travel left UAS at 6-12 in the regular season, but it knocked off Carthage 89-60 in the opening round and took an early lead on the Cobras, too.
But a midgame push where it outscored the Atoms 36-23 in the second and third quarters got Grimes in control, which it kept thanks to Garang’s 27 points. Jon Corl had 12 points and Erik Wall added 11 points.
Now it was the rematch with New Hartford, a team that, led by Zach Philipkoski scoring 17 of his 30 points in the first quarter, steamrolled the Cobras early in the 2022 semifinal on the way to a 73-50 victory, a sectional title and, ultimately, a state title-game appearance.
Here, Philipkoski would save his barrage for the game’s latter stages, and Grimes jumped out to a quick 10-0 advantage. Leading through most of the first half, the Cobras took a 34-31 advantage to the break, largely on the back of Garang, who had 23 points in those first two quarters.
Grimes still was up 42-37 when, midway through the third quarter, the Spartans used a 12-2 run to go in front for good, not just with Philipkoski, but with sophomore Jameson Stockwell, who was productive throughout the night and finished with 26 points.
For the rest of the game, any Grimes attempt to catch up was answered by Philipkoski, who grew in confidence as the night went on and, again, proved too difficult to contain.
Of Philipkoski’s 37 points, 27 of them came in the second half, and despite Garang running his total to 39 points, the combination of Philipkoski and Stockwell proved too much.
New Hartford had reached this point by going to East Syracuse Minoa, the no. 4 seed, last Tuesday night and winning this Spartan clash by a score of 68-61.
They traded baskets through most of the first half, but New Hartford inched out in front 37-32 by halftime and, all through the second, thwarted every ESM comeback attempt thanks to Philipkoski’s 29 points.
Balanced in scoring, ESM had Tyler Quarry and Anthony Bryant each pick up 14 points, with Tristan Henderson adding 12 points, Cole Thomas 10 points and A.J. Graham eight points.
Still, ESM ended at 12-10, with its main season highlight a thrilling sweep of Jamesville-DeWitt, who dealt with its own disappointment in a 56-54 quarterfinal defeat to Central Square in overtime.
What made it more difficult was the way the Red Rams, led by hot 3-point shooting, erased its entire 28-17 deficit during a blazing third quarter, tying it 41-41 and setting up a tense final period.
Neither side scored much and, with the game still even at 48-48, J-D had a chance to win it, only to see a last-second driving lay-up attempt go off the rim as the clock expired.
In OT, Central Square’s Shane Berquist netted six straight points, equaling the Rams by himself, and again it was tied late in regulation, this time 54-54.
With the ball, the Redhawks again gave it to Berquist, and while missed, Cameron Pownall got fouled with 2.9 seconds to play.
Maintaining his poise, Pownall hit both free throws, and J-D was unable to answer it on a night where Anthony Stickle put in 19 points and Trent Hughes got 18 points, Ian Delpha eight points and Jake Ogata seven points.
Central Square went on to beat Fulton 49-43 in the semifinals to earn a spot in the title game against New Hartford, the first for the Redhawks since 2005.
