A delay of two weeks has only made the boys basketball showdown between Liverpool and West Genesee a bigger deal – if weather allows the game to take place Tuesday night.
Not only have the Wildcats and Warriors stayed unbeaten within the CNY Counties League, WG zoomed up to no. 13 in the state Class AA rankings when it knocked off Shenendehowa in the same Pathfinder Bank Zebra Classic at Le Moyne College Jan. 14 where Liverpool topped Corcoran.
Going their separate ways for 10 days before this big meeting, neither side let up. While the Wildcats were getting its own win at Corcoran last Tuesday night, Liverpool ventured to Fayetteville-Manlius and used everyone in its lineup to smash the Hornets 87-53.
Already up 20-13 through one period, the Warriors put things away by outscoring F-M 29-8 the rest of the first half. Though the Hornets played better from there, it was far too much to overcome.
Remarkably, 14 different Liverpool players recorded a field goal by game’s end. with Noah Issakinen hitting five 3-pointers on his way to a team-high 17 points as Charles Pride (11 points) and Charlie Meile (10 points) also got into double figures.
Anthony Taylor finished with nine points, while Naz Johnson, Cooper Chaffee and Allan Willmes earned six points apiece. For F-M,Tim Zapisek gained 20 points, including three 3-pointers, while Jawaan Crouch had 10 points and Ryan Salzberg added eight points.
Now the trick for Liverpool was not to look ahead to West Genesee as, to start a busy weekend, it made the short trip to Baldwinsville on Friday to face a Bees side it beat by a big margin (81-52) on Dec. 20. The rematch proved far closer, but Liverpool rallied late and pulled out a 56-54 decision.
The pace was unlike what both teams expected, yet it hurt the Bees more in the early going as the Warriors, through a strong second-quarter push, got a 30-22 lead. But in the third period B’ville caught fire from the field, outscoring Liverpool 23-9 in those eight minutes.
As the fourth quarter started, the Bees owned a 45-39 lead, but just as quickly as it broke out, it went quiet, giving the Warriors time to regroup and, outscoring the Bees by a 17-9 margin the rest of the way, pull it out,.
Pride, with 23 points, led the effort as Issakinen got nine points and Willmes added six points. Gabe Horan led B’ville with 15 points,m while Chris Taylor and Jake Marshall got 12 points apiece, but Liverpool held B’ville’s most dangerous outside threat, David Cerqua, to five points as Cerqua made just one 3-pointer all night.
On Saturday, the Warriors, on its home court, would get a second chance against Rochester Aquinas, whom it lost to Dec. 27 in the first round of Bishop Ludden’s holiday tournament.
This time around, it proved successful as Liverpool fought past the Little Irish 54-51. The Warriors held Aquinas to six points in the first quarter while moving in front, and for the rest of the game relied on its defense to make sure the Irish didn’t catch up.
Though the production was spread around, Pride still led with 12 points, adding nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. Chaffee contributed 10 points, with Mederios and Willmes getting seven points apiece and Jonah Harder earning six points.
Cicero-North Syracuse badly needed a spark and got it last Tuesday at Baldwinsville, playing some of its best defense of the season during a 57-53 victory over the Bees.
When the two teams played to a 20-20 draw in a high-flying first quarter, neither side could have anticipated how much the pace would slow down. This hurt B’ville, whose 29-27 halftime lead vanished when C-NS outscored them 16-11 in the third quarter.
Despite great opportunities down the stretch, the Bees could not catch up as the Northstars’ Lukas Merluzzi achieved a double-double, finishing the night with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Jaysaun Gunn played well in the latter stages and finished with 13 points as Chris Stowell got 12 points, three rebounds and three assists, and Lorezno Thompson had nine rebounds to go with six points. B’ville’s David Cerqua had 22 points included six 3-pointers, while Matt Dickman added 13 points,
Yet once again C-NS could not follow that success up, falling for the second time this season to Henninger 75-65 on Friday as it rallied from an early deficit to lead 36-35 at halftime, only to have the Black Knights outscore them 25-16 in the third quarter to move ahead for good.
Omar Mere still had 13 points, six assists and four steals, with Stowell putting up another 12-point effort that Alex Gray matched. Justin Kegebein’s trio of 3-pointer led to nine points as Eric Bowen got seven points. Requan Porch, with 17 points, paced Henninger’s well-balanced attack.
