ONONDAGA COUNTY – Just one victory now separates both of the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse varsity basketball teams from Section III Class AAA championship games against one another.

In the boys sectional quarterfinals, the no. 2 seed Northstars found itself in a tense battle with no. 7 seed Christian Brothers Academy Friday night at North Syracuse Junior High School before it got away in the final minutes of a 68-44 victory.

It was a bit more conventional over at Liverpool, where the top-seeded Warriors mainly rode a fast start against no. 8 seed Henninger to prevail 68-53 over the Black Knights.

Of the two games, the one between C-NS and CBA carried much more suspense, at least for a while, entirely due to a Brothers side which had played its best late in the season despite carrying a 7-13 record into the playoffs.

With its trademark man-to-man defense, the Brothers never let the Northstars get comfortable, even though C-NS grabbed an early advantage and limited CBA to just seven points in the second quarter while taking a 26-21 lead to the break.

What happened in the third period made every Northstars fan nervous. Unable to produce baskets on a consistent basis, C-NS watched CBA narrow the margin to two, 37-35, and the shadow of the defeat to the Brothers in this same sectional quarterfinal round one year earlier hung over the game.

Or at least it did until the fourth quarter started. Picking up its pace and overwhelming CBA, the Northstars went on a closing 30-9 spurt, led again by Andrew Benedict, whose 23 points topped all individuals.

Otherwise, it was spread around well as Nate Francis, Michael Gallo, Michael Pfautz and Rosco Polos had nine points apiece. CBA was led by 18 points from Jason Brunson and 11 points from Max Lachut.

This happened as Liverpool, riding a 10-game win streak, found Henninger to be far more challenging than the side it beat 75-45 back in December.

As it turned out, it was good that the Warriors got off to a quick start, bolting to a 20-9 advantage by the end of the first quarter, as for the rest of the game the Black Knights mostly kept pace thanks to a well-balanced attack where seven different players netted at least five points and none had more than Nymeer Dozier’s 11.

But every Henninger run was met by a Liverpool response, whether it was Freddie Fowler getting nine of his game-high 17 points at the free-throw line or Jeff Manuel and Alex Trombley earning 13 points apiece. Daniel Dunn helped out, too, scoring eight points.

Liverpool and C-NS are also the top two seeds in Class AAA girls basketball and also in the semifinal round, the Warriors thanks to a first-round bye that meant a 19-day break between its regular-season finale and its semifinal game against no. 4 seed Baldwinsville next Wednesday night at Central Square.

C-NS would join them after smashing no. 7 seed Syracuse West 88-18 in Friday night’s quarterfinal, a game where the Northstars bolted out to a 33-5 lead in the first quarter to quickly decide matters.

It was 53-10 by halftime and everyone on the C-NS roster earned at least one field goal. Five hit double figures, led by Leah Benedict, who had 15 points, most of it from three 3-pointers.

Meadow Werts gained 14 points, while Kat McRobbie-Taru got 12 points. Most of Olivia Cook’s 11 points came from equaling Benedict’s trio of 3-pointers as Amanda Timmons had 10 points and Kylah Bednar eight points.