CENTRAL NEW YORK – Bathed in turmoil and change 12 months ago, what the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team has done since that point was remarkable enough without outside confirmation.
Yet more of it arrived last week when the Cobras, with its 10-1 record, earned the top spot in the latest Class B rankings by the New York State Sportswriters Association. It’s the first time in program history Grimes is so honored.
Whether it lasted beyond this single week was an open question, though, after Grimes lost last Friday night at Bishop Ludden dropping a 68-54 decision to the Gaelic Knights.
Grimes already had five wins against teams in the Class A or AA ranks, but it found itself in catch-up mode from the start here as Ludden seized a 17-12 lead through one period.
Mostly it stayed that way through the middle stages, but the Gaelic Knights got away late in large part because it had four players score in double figures to the Cobras’ three.
Ava Carpenter led Ludden with 20 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and five steals. Elizabeth Gaughan augmented her 10 points with 13 rebounds as Sophia Chemotti got 14 points and Abby Reynolds had 13 points, adding five rebounds.
Though well-balanced, Grimes did not get too much beyond its top three players, Sicily Shaffer getting 18 points as Aaliyah Zachery and Kierra Baxter had 12 points apiece.
Earlier in the week Christian Brothers Academy took its turn against Ludden and got close in a 46-41 defeat, the latest edition of the “Holy War”.
Ludden steadily worked its way to a 29-17 halftime lead, only to have CBA’s defense clamp down the rest of the way, rarely allowing open shots as, on the other end, the Brothers chipped away at the deficit.
A sustained run proved elusive though, as no CBA player had more than the 10 points put up by Liana Thomas as Cara Macaluso and Maya White helped with eight points apiece. Reynolds led the Gaelic Knights with 15 points, while Gaughan amassed 15 rebounds as she and Carpenter each produced 12 points.
Fayetteville-Manlius played last Wednesday night against Henninger and took a 52-45 defeat to the Black Knights.
An early Hornets deficit was erased when it held Henninger to five points. Up 23-18 at the break, F-M could not hold on, the Black Knights catching up 34-34 by the fourth quarter and then taking the lead for good in the late going.
Lydia Land-Steves earned 20 points, but no other Hornets player hit double figures as Taylor Novack got seven points. Henninger was carried by Sanai Lee’s 22 points and Inese Odom’s 16 points.
A wild 73-59 defeat to West Genesee followed on Saturday where F-M could not hold on to a 37-30 halftime lead despite 20 points from Land-Steves as Jane Ryan got 17 points and Novack 12 points. Keying the Wildcats’ comeback, Jordyn Townes amassed 29 points and Bella Quinones had 23 points.
A night earlier East Syracuse Minoa and Jamesville-DeWitt both earned victories, the Spartans surprising Oswego 47-39 and the Red Rams beating Auburn 50-36.
In ESM’s case defense was the difference, the 2-6 Spartans holding the 6-2 Buccaneers to 13 first-half points. Oswego did make up ground in the third quarter but the Spartans closed 17-11 to pull it out as Aniyah Jones piled up 26 points and Sonya Benhassen added 16 points.
J-D was stingy, too, never letting Auburn score more than 10 points in any single quarter. The Rams improved to 6-4 overall as Ava Sandroni managed 16 points and Samantha Wheeler (11 points) also hit double figures.