CENTRAL NEW YORK – Perhaps it is simplistic to say that the mid-season coaching changes for Jamesville-DeWitt and Bishop Grimes girls basketball would serve as refreshers for both sides, since neither of them had poor records to start with.
Still, the results may have displayed some major improvements as the Red Rams, now under the direction of former Fayetteville-Manlius coach Scott DeForest, went to Oswego last Wednesday and pounded the Buccaneers 64-43.
As this went on, Bishop Grimes, now led by former East Syracuse Minoa standout Brittany Almonte, went to Westhill and, with a big second-half comeback, got close to ending the Warriors’ five-game win streak before settling for a 66-63 overtime defeat.
By far, the most important thing this young Cobras squad displayed was resilience and resolve, not getting too discouraged even as Westhill made its way to a 35-24 halftime lead.
Gradually, Grimes ate away at that deficit throughout the third and fourth quarters, doing so with multiple options on offense and constantly forcing its way to the free-throw line.
Seventh-grader Gia Kinsey earned nine of her 18 points through foul shots. Kierra Baxter had 14 points, with Aaliyah Zachery making five free throws on the way to 13 points and Sicily Shaffer adding 10 points.
Despite all this, and getting the game to overtime 59-59, the Cobras only managed four points in the extra period and Westhill pulled it out led by Izzy Young’s 20 points, four rebounds and six assists, plus Kara Rosenberger’s 16 point and six rebounds.
It wasn’t as close at Oswego, where J-D was productive and tough on defense right from the outset and did not let up for a while, eventually building a 57-31 lead on the Bucs by the end of the third quarter.
Ava Sandroni, with 16 points, led a deep and versatile attack. Sophia Zoghby (12 points) and Savannah Schnorr (10 points) also got into double figures, with Samantha Wheeler and Merris Kessler each earning eight points.
Rebounding from the Westhill loss, Grimes handled Skaneateles 47-26 on Friday led by Kinsey’s 16 points and Baxter’s 13 points, with Zachery and Shaffer both earning eight points. The Cobras’ defense held the Lakers to just three points in the third quarter.
Not having to worry about transition other than what takes place during fast breaks, Christian Brothers Academy maintained the best record among local sides, routing Chittenango 69-25 last Thursday to improve to 6-2 overall.
What was a low-scoring game changed when the Brothers outscored the Bears 28-2 in a dominant third quarter. Chiana Williams, with 19 points, led four CBA players in double figures as Carmella Fairbanks (13 points), Sydney Vaughn (11 points) and Maricatherine Giamartino (10 points) closely followed.
ESM began its new year by running into West Genesee and taking an 83-50 defeat to the same Wildcats team it saw in its own holiday tournament a week earlier.
Here, despite 27 points from Aniyah Jones and 11 points from Bella Kroll, the Spartans could not keep up as WG outscored them 46-26 in the second and third quarters led by Bella Quinones, whose 30 points featured six successful 3-pointers.
During Friday’s 50-36 loss to Auburn, the Spartans fell behind 50-16 before a late-game surge, and though Jones had 14 points and Kroll 13 points, ESM could not stop the Maroons’ Peyton Manieri, who dazzled with 36 points.
DeForest’s old team at F-M was overwhelmed last Wednesday in a 67-23 defeat to Cicero-North Syracuse, but then got close against Henninger, only to take a 46-42 defeat to the Black Knights despite Lydia Land-Steves earning a career-best 22 points.
