Even with a 6-2 start, the Liverpool boys basketball team quickly found out that a solid record could not buy one minute worth of security.
When it hosted Rochester Aquinas last Saturday afternoon, the Warriors saw control of the game slip away in the second quarter, and never got it back during a 63-50 loss to the Irish.
With a 7-1 record, Aquinas had sneaked into the “Honorable Mention” portion of the state Class A rankings, and would prove to Liverpool why it belonged there, or perhaps higher.
The Warriors only led twice, by scoring the game’s opening basket and later having a 10-9 edge in the first quarter. By the early part of the second period, Liverpool was still locked in a 14-14 tie, and though Jesse Gates had a pair of baskets, they weren’t leaning on him too much.
All that changed, though, after the Irish took off on a 12-0 run, fueled by Tyler Patterson, who had seven points in that stretch, and 18 points overall.
Trailing 34-20 at the break, Liverpool saw that deficit grow to 41-23 during the third period, and it was still 49-33 before Gates tried to push his team back.
With 10 points in a span of five minutes of the fourth quarter, Gates had the Warriors within seven, 53-46, with time enough to make up the rest — but the team, as a whole, had just two field goals in those last 2 1/2 minutes.
Gates finished with 27 points, more than half his team’s output. Anthony Salomone had eight points, with Jeff Chase adding five points. Zach Putnam controlled the inside for Aquinas with 14 points and 10 rebounds, with Dwayne Smith adding 10 points and eight assists.
Liverpool would try to get back in the win column Tuesday at West Genesee (where Jerry Wilcox coached before coming to the Warriors) before a Friday home date with Fayetteville-Manlius.
