CENTRAL NEW YORK – Back on Dec. 16, John Cifonelli coached the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team to a victory, just as he had done 359 previous times in 25 years, the most wins of any coach in school history.
Two days later, Cifonelli was no longer in charge, and his long-time assistant, Timm O’Connor, was out, too.
The sudden change was just part of a turbulent stretch for area girls basketball which also included
Of the two changes, what happened at Grimes was more of a surprise, given that the Cobras, with a young roster that had no seniors, just one senior and started both an eighth-grader (Aaliyah Zachery) and a seventh-grader (Gia Kinsey), had started 4-1 and were no. 22 in the state Class B rankings at the time of Cifonelli’s departure.
And what made it even more difficult was that, just two months earlier, Grimes had inducted Cifonelli into its Athletic Hall of Fame, a tribute to a career that not only included all those victories but also 11 league titles and a Section III Class C championship in 2009.
Still, the abrupt change took place, meaning that Grimes would have to play its remaining 15 regular-season games with a new coaching staff led by Brittany Almonte, an
East Syracuse Minoa alum and former Onondaga Community College assistant coach. Lisa Marino will assist Almonte.While all this was going on, Cieplicki, the former Syracuse University women’s coach who had led J-D to a sectional Class A finals appearance in 2021 and a 13-9 mark last winter, cited personal reasons for stepping aside.
One veteran coach left, but another quite familiar to local fans has stepped in – DeForest, who spent the previous 21 years with the F-M varsity team but now is working across town with a Rams side who, ironically, beat the Hornets in Cieplicki’s last game in charge Dec. 18.
F-M also happened to be Grimes’ opponent last Friday in the opening round of the More Than A Game Tournament, and the Cobras, responding well in Almonte’s first game in charge, beat the Hornets 65-46.
In a breakout performance, Kinsey hit on 10 field goals, three of them 3-pointers, added six free throws and got 29 points overall as Grimes used a 19-7 push through the second quarter to take charge.
Kierra Baxter stepped up, too, earning 16 points, while Sicily Shaffer had eight points and Zachery seven points. On F-M’s side, Lydia Land=Steves led with 12 points and Mia Knuth got 10 points.
A day later, Grimes lost, 51-26, to South Jefferson, who never let the Cobras score more than seven points in any single quarter and were led by Savannah Hodges’ 23 points and Brooke Perry’s 17 points. Kinsey had seven points and Olivia Bitz six points for Grimes.
In the consolation game, F-M fell to Section IV’s Susquehanna Valley 50-41, held to just 12 total points in the first and third quarters. Again, Land-Steves (11 points) and Knuth (10 points) set the Hornets’ scoring pace.
Something good is brewing this winter with Christian Brothers Academy, and it’s letting other local sides know about it.
It was the Brothers emerging with the title during the Dec. 27-28 East Syracuse Minoa Holiday Classic, capping it off by pulling away to beat the host Spartans 66-37 in the championship game.
Controlling the game from the outset, CBA was up 13-4 after one period, and mostly maintained that cushion until a decisive third-quarter push.
From a 29-19 margin, the Brothers went on a 16-1 run, led again by Chiana Williams, who earned 14 points during the third period on her way to 27 points overall.
Sydney Vaughn, with 14 points, offered plenty of support, while Maricatherine Giamartino had seven points and Maya White-Dudahni had six points. Aniyah Jones led ESM with 14 points, with Bella Kroll and Angelina Consentino getting eight points apiece.
