From the joy it generated in December with a series of close victories, the Liverpool boys basketball team found itself at a serious crossroads in mid-January.
Having lost six in a row, the Warriors faced Corcoran last Friday night and, perhaps just in time, broke that skid by putting together an impressive 77-70 victory over the Cougars.
Corcoran was 8-3, but one of those defeats had come to Liverpool on Dec. 14, a 66-64 classic won on Romeo Clarke’s buzzer-beating baseline jumper.
Sharp out of the gate in the rematch, the Warriors led 21-9 by the end of the first quarter. Then it traded baskets until a productive third period where Liverpool’s edge grew to 66-46.
Despite the Cougars’ De’Jour Reaves scoring 32 points, the Warriors controlled the game with superior depth, led by Jack Pento, who set a career mark with 22 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.
Jacob Works, with 19 points, was close behind, while Clarke had 11 points and Josh Young had 10 points. Kyle Caves got eight points.
Before all this, Liverpool lost 59-52 to Henninger last Wednesday at Jamesville-DeWitt, which dropped the Warriors to 4-7, a seasonal low point that the Corcoran win helped to correct.
Back on Tuesday night, Cicero-North Syracuse took a 1-9 record to Camillus and nearly upended reigning state Class AA champion West Genesee before taking a 64-61 defeat.
A close first half gave the Northstars some belief as it only trailed by one, 29-28, at the break. Then it outscored the Wildcats 16-9 to take a 44-38 lead, led by Luke Paragon, who would finish with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Not panicking, WG reeled in C-NS during the fourth quarter, went back in front and held tight as Will Amica’s 15 points led a balanced effort. Adam Dudzinski put in 13 points, with John Benson getting 10 points.
Joe Penizotto had 12 points, all from four 3-pointers which matched Paragon’s total. Grant Sennett earned nine points, with Brian Bonin getting seven points and 10 rebounds.
Now C-NS would travel to Baldwinsville Friday night, looking to reverse a 66-45 defeat to the J.J. Starling-led Bees in mid-December.
And for a long while, it looked like the Northstars would break that skid, but it all went away in the fourth quarter of a 68-65 defeat to the Bees.
Over the course of the second and third periods, C-NS outplayed B’ville and moved out in front, and early in the fourth quarter it led 55-48, largely due to Paragaon, who led the Northstars with 29 points and nine rebounds.
But just like it did earlier in the week against Corcoran (when Starling had 38 points), B’ville saved its best work for the final minutes, outscoring C-NS 20-10 the rest of the way.
Starling finished with 27 points, including four 3-pointers. Bo Nicholson and Chase Trombley each had 15 points as, behind Paragon, Bonin had 14 points and six rebounds, while Sennett had 12 points and seven rebounds.
C-NS was able to turn around on Saturday and finally get its second win of the season, topping Rochester’s Edison Tech 64-59 with another big performance from Paragon, who had 32 points as Tavores Flournory had eight points and Jerrod Hills got seven points.
