As of this exact moment, the Liverpool girls basketball team still occupies a vague position among the Section III Class AA hierarchy – good enough for annual playoff trips, but not quite at the top level.
That position was reinforced Friday night, at Corcoran, where the Warriors played hard from start to finish, but still took a 60-51 defeat to the Cougars.
Though not as experienced as the 2010 team that narrowly lost the sectional final to Cicero-North Syracuse, Corcoran still came into this game with a 10-3 mark and a proven senior leader in Coriesha Hickey, who would be exceptional on this night.
The Warriors and Cougars played an exciting 18-18 first quarter before Corcoran inched out in front in the second period, leading 35-31 at the break.
All through the second half, Liverpool stayed within range, yet could not hit baskets on a consistent basis, allowing Corcoran to keep its margin.
And Hickey kept making shots when she needed to, finishing with 25 points to just edge out Ally Zywicki, who turned in another one of her big nights with 24 points, including three 3-pointers. That was nearly half Liverpool’s total as Nicole Ciricillo added 11 points and Lyteshia Price put up six points.
Liverpool clinched a winning record for 2010-11 in convincing fashion last Tuesday night, defending its home court with a 59-28 romp over Auburn.
Hot right at the start, the Warriors sprinted to a 21-8 first-quarter lead, then spent the rest of the game steadily adding to that margin.
Zywicki led with 18 points, hitting two of her team’s three 3-pointers. Ciricillo finished with nine points, while Shannon Seymour, Mackenzie Chase and Chloe Buccina each finished with six points.
At 10-5 following the Corcoran defeat, Liverpool plays just once this week, against Rome Free Academy on Tuesday, with games against Henninger (on Feb. 15) and CNS (Feb. 19) closing out the regular season.
