Eleven-plus minutes of action, in the context of a schedule of 20 or more games, is not much – but for the Liverpool boys basketball team, it might prove the most valuable stretch of the entire season.
Faced with a possible third consecutive defeat, the Warriors recovered just in time and, dominating down the stretch, beat LeMan Prep (New York City) 68-57 in Saturday night’s consolation game of the Bishop Ludden Rosemary Corcoran Holiday Classic.
Already reeling from its first loss of the season on Dec. 19 (81-54 to Nottingham), Liverpool had gone to Ludden on Friday night and run into Utica-Notre Dame, again struggling on the defensive end as it lost to the Jugglers by an 85-64 margin.
All through the first half, anything the Warriors tried to contain UND’s attack proved futile. Accelerating the tempo, the Jugglers had a 23-12 edge through one period and then continued to pour on the points, extending its margin to 49-29 by halftime.
For the Jugglers, Joe Sullivan led with 23 points, while Kevin Warmack, quarterback on UND’s Section III Class C title team (who won its semifinal game over General Brown at Liverpool High School Stadium), added 18 points and Jerome Brabham 16 points. Combined, the trio sank 12 3-pointers between them, and Cal Schaff added two more on his way to 11 points.
Despite 25 points from Tyler Sullivan, Liverpool could not put together a similar scoring stretch, mainly because no one other than Sullivan reached double figures. Only Sumit Singh and Nate Cutler, with eight points apiece, got close, as mainstays like Matt Hunter (four points) and Naz Johnson (three points) never got on track.
Now the Warriors met LeMan Prep, who had lost 79-67 to host Bishop Ludden in the other half of the opening round, a game where it was tight for three quarters before the Gaelic Knights got clear in the final period.
Liverpool had it worse against the visitors from New York City, watching as the Bulls, down 14-8 early, seized the lead early in the second quarter and held it for most of the game, dominating on the boards and forcing a faster tempo.
That would take a toll, though. Foul trouble forced LeMan to slow things down, and Liverpool, with its deeper bench, began to frustrate the Bulls, especially when forward Ruben Erickson took a technical foul late in the third period with his team still in front, 48-42.
As it turned out, the technical foul fired up Liverpool, who moved within two, 51-49, going to the fourth quarter, and after LeMan regained a 55-49 edge, the Warriors went on a decisive 13-0 run to move in front for good.
Hunter led the comeback, working his way to 21 points overall, beating out Sullivan, who still had 18 points. Nate Cutler contributed nine points as Johnson and Will Cutler each finished with six points.
Liverpool would then get a week to rest before putting its 5-2 record on the line next Saturday against Auburn, a game moved back from its original date on Friday.
