The Bishop Grimes student Pep Band played one of those catchy pop songs a couple of minutes before the second half start of their girls basketball game vs. Clinton.
Standing in their huddle getting some last-minute instructions from Coach Elaine Hogan, first Sydney Labayewski and Kaitlyn Williams, then the rest of the team, bopped along to the song. Hogan, laughing, put down her clipboard and let the girls have their moment before retaking the floor for the second half of their game.
Clinton trailed 28-10 at the half and after 16 more minutes of play lost 54-19. While the Warriors have fun together off the court, they play hard on it, pushing the No. 13-seeded Cobras to earn the win and end the CCS season with 8 wins and 13 losses.
While Bishop Grimes moved on to play Adirondack in the Section Three Class B playoffs in the second round, and upset the No. 4 seed, Clinton girls basketball will also continue moving forward. Five years ago there was no girls program; a year after that some of these varsity players regrouped to form a junior varsity only team for a year.
This year the Warriors qualified for the playoffs for the first time since girls basketball returned. And while they lose two seniors skilled both in the game and leadership in Hanna Morse and Megan Bremer, Clinton returns a solid core of experience next year.
Some of that experience was forced earlier than anticipated, as juniors Gianna Trunfio and Mariah Seward both had their seasons end early due to injuries. The duo had averaged 25 points per game, combined to lead the team in assists and steals and were No. 2 and No. 3 for the season in rebounds.
Hogan tapped junior varsity players Elise Mozloom and Chloe Hynes to suit up for varsity a little earlier. They, and the entire Clinton team, saw significant…