As many other high school winter sports teams in Central New York saw games and practices get wiped out amid the record December snowfall, the Liverpool girls basketball team did not sweat it too much. The Warriors did not see any games postponed, its opener not taking place until Friday, when it met Christian Brothers Academy in the opening round of Central Square’s Traci Zimmer Memorial Tournament, a benefit for Coaches vs. Cancer. But Liverpool did not suffer too much for waiting, as it beat the Brothers 52-46 to reach the championship round, where it fell to Fayetteville-Manlius 49-39. Liverpool, under coach Mike Olley, went 10-9 a season ago, losing to Corcoran in the Section III Class AA quarterfinals. But it returns most of its lineup, including Nicole Ciricillo, Ally Zywicki and Nina Tassone, for 2010-11, believing it can rise up and be a serious challenger to two-time defending champion Cicero-North Syracuse. Those veterans gave the Warriors a slight edge over CBA, which had seen its all-time leading scorer, Leanne Ockenden, graduate (she’s now at Marist), along with Michelle D’Amico and Victoria Johnson. Still, Liverpool trailed, 15-14, through one period, before picking up defensive pressure in the second period – which translated to baskets on the other end and a 30-26 halftime edge. CBA closed in during the third quarter, then remained right at the Warriors’ heels behind the work of Marisa Romeo (15 points) and Ellen Voorheis (13 points) as the game went down to the final minutes. Then Ciricillo struck the biggest blow, draining a 3-pointer with barely two minutes to play. All CBA could manage was one more field goal the rest of the way as the Warriors used free throws to seal the win.
Overall, Ciricillo had 21 points, while Zywicki and Tassone each got 11 points. Each of them hit on three 3-pointers to help Liverpool prevail. A day later, the Warriors ran into F-M, who was already 3-0 and had handled host Central Square 60-38 in the other half of the opening round. Liverpool dashed out to a 12-10 lead, but in the second quarter F-M bounced back with a huge surge, gaining a 28-24 lead at halftime. Still, the real turning point came in the third quarter, where F-M’s crisp passes led to many easy shots and lay-ups while, at the same time, its defense held Liverpool to only seven points. Now ahead, 43-31, going to the fourth quarter, the Hornets saw Liverpool try to fight back as it got within nine points a couple of times, but could not get any closer. No Warrior player scored in double figure, as Ciricillo had nine points, Zywicki seven points and Tassone and Sydney Chalifoux six points apiece. F-M forward Kiley Shoemaker led both sides with 17 points and Ali Pliszka added 14 points. Before all this, Liverpool’s boys basketball team slipped to 0-2, the result of Thursday night’s 65-45 defeat to Utica Proctor in its home opener. Five days (and two snowed-out practices) removed from its Dec. 12 loss to Cicero-North Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, the Warriors now had to confront a Proctor team with 10 players back from a run to last year’s sectional AA final. Though playing in its first game of the season, the Raiders still cracked down on defense, rarely giving Liverpool any space to maneuver as it fell behind 33-19 by halftime. The margin grew to 53-31 before the Warriors made a belated push. Adam Misener led with 14 points, with Ian Hamm adding 12 points and Ben Peet producing eight points. Proctor’s T’Andre Richardson, who also had 14 points, led a balanced attack where five of his teammates had between six and nine points.