ONONDAGA COUNTY – Again the Bishop Grimes girls basketball team faced a serious threat to its state Class B top ranking but found a way to victory, even short-handed.
The Cobras’ 50-48 oertime victory over Christian Brothers Academy on Jan. 24 was even more impressive given that Grimes did not have one of its top players, Aaliyah Zachery, but still found a way to improve to 13-2 overall.
It didn’t look that stressful at the start, the Cobras roaring to a 19-8 lead through one period only to have CBA erase most of that margin before halftime.
By the third quarter the Brothers were in front, and it played hard to keep that advantage, but now the Cobras rallied, pushed the game 50-50 into overtime and then played superb defense in the fourt-minute extra period holding the Brothers to just two points.
Sicily Shaffer paced Grimes with 18 points. Riley Abernethy stepped up with 12 points as Kierra Baxter got seven points. Liana Thomas led CBA with 14 points, Cara Macaluso getting 11 points and Mari Catherine Giamartino earning nine points.
Far easier for Grimes was last Tuesday’s 77-37 romp over Syracuse Academy of Science where Zachery returned and a 25-3 first-quarter blitz quickly decided matters. Zachery’s 18 points was only topped by
Shaffer’s 24 points as Baxter netted 10 points, Olivia Garland nine points and Olivia Bitz seven points.
Again home on Friday night, Grimes met another main rival, Bishop Ludden, whom it lost to Jan. 17. Exactly two weeks later, the Cobras looked to get even with the Gaelic Knights – and it did so in the most convincing way possible.
The 62-41 victory was impressive on many fronts, starting with the fact that one of Grimes’ starters, Olivia Bitz, was not in the lineup, but her teammates more than made up for it.
Defensively, the Cobras were close to perfect in the first half, hounding Ludden on every possession and limiting it to just three field goals – one less than Shaffer got herself in the first five minutes, her
scoring surge putting Grimes ahead for good.
By halftime Shaffer had more points (15) than the Gaelic Knights (13), and any notion that Ludden could come back in the second half was thwarted by Zachery, who poured in 17 second-half points after getting just two in the first two quarters.
Most of what Ludden produced came late, whether it was Abby Reynolds’ 18 points or Ava Carpenter’s 11 points, but neither could match Zachery or Shaffer, who finished with 23 points as Baxter and Riley Abernethy earned eight points apiece.
Back on Tuesday night CBA did not get as close against Ludden in a 58-24 defeat, with the Gaelic Knights outscoring them 31-11 over the course of the second and third quarters. Macalus’s eight points paced the Brothers.
However, the Brothers were able to handle SAS 69-35 on Thursday night, finally able to unleash its offense during a 41-16 blitz over the same 16-minute midgame stretch where Ludden dominated.
Much of the 16 points earned by Macaluso came from four 3-pointers. Maya White, with 15 points, was close behind, Liana Thomas contributing 11 points and Lilah Kirch getting six points.
Then on Saturday afternoon CBA ran into Class A contender Indian River and lost 37-27, unable to hold an early 10-7 edge as the Wolves took the lead by halftime and pulled clear led by Allison LaMora’s 15 points. Juliette Zimmerman and Mari Catherine Giamartino got nine points apiece for the Brothers, Thomas adding eight points.