EAST SYRACUSE – Each of the Bishop Grimes basketball teams has made it a mid-January tradition to bring in top competition for their annual Martin Luther King Jr. Tournaments.
So it was again on Sunday and Monday, with the girls taking a pair of defeats and the boys going 1-1.
In a possible playoff preview, the Grimes girls faced Marcellus in the opening round, a game that was lively and featured a good start by the Cobras that did not last in a 59-43 defeat.
The Mustangs turned it around after a rough start, fighting its way to a 25-23 halftime lead, and then tearing up Grimes 21-4 in a decisive third quarter.
Again, it proved a two-player show for the Mustangs as Cece Powell amassed 32 points and Tenly Baker 21 points. On Grimes’ side, only Gia Kinsey, with 19 points, hit double figures, Aaliyah Zachery adding nine points and Sicily Shaffer getting seven points.
This happened after West Genesee lost the other opening-round game 62-43 to Section IV’s Union-Endicott, who barreled its way to a 30-15 halftime lead and never let the Wildcats catch up.
WG turned around and, in the consolation game, defeated Grimes 60-52, this time playing quite well out of the gate as it jumped out 16-7 in the first quarter and spent the rest of the game answering every possible Cobras charge.
A lot of this was due to Bella Quinones, who between 12 field goals, three of them 3-pointers, and seven free throws made her way to 34 points, two more than Powell did for Marcellus.
Shaffer didn’t get close to those totals, but with 16 points led Grimes as Kierra Baxter stepped up with 12 points. Raymond, Zachery and Olivia Bitz had eight points apiece.
Marcellus would, in the championship game, fall 54-43 to Union-Endicott. The Tigers jumped out 15-2 and, from there, essentially spent the entire game locked on Powell and Baker, daring someone else to step up. It didn’t quite happen, as Powell was held to 17 points and Baker managed 11 points.
In the boys MLK Tournament, Grimes’ first-round opponent was Bishop Kearney, from Rochester, and it turned into an entertaining battle that the Cobras lost, 70-66, to the Kings.
Led again by Nate Abernethy, Grimes charged to a 20-11 advantage through one period and built it to 34-22 by halftime, only to see Kearney make up that ground throughout the second half.
And this happened despite Abernethy setting a new season mark with 39 points, which included six 3-pointers and 11 successful free throws. Frank Sgroi had 11 points, with Dan Shaw adding six points.
State Class B no. 1-ranked Marcellus beat Utica Academy of Science 64-40 in the other opening-round game and, in the final, put five players in double figures to hold off Kearney 71-62.
As for Grimes, it salvaged third place by beating UAS 61-55, a game where a quick 17-7 start nearly disappeared before a strong third quarter restored the margin to 46-36, which proved enough.
Abernethy cooled off from his Kearney production but still led the Cobras with 21 points. Sgroi helped with 10 points, but Vince Reader helped even more with 11 points as Shaw contributed eight points.
