While the Liverpool boys basketball team has a Section III Class AA playoff berth sewn up, the girls do not, and its quest to get back to the post-season will come down to the wire.
The girls Warriors may have found worse trouble had it not rallied in last Friday night’s game against West Genesee, making a big late surge to beat the Wildcats 50-47.
WG held Liverpool to two points in the first quarter, only to see the Warriors break out in the second period as the Wildcats’ attack stayed flat.
Liverpool led, 19-14 at the break, but the Wildcats broke out with a 22-12 push through the third quarter, forcing the Warriors to make another comeback – which it did, erasing that 36-33 deficit by outscoring WG 17-11 in the final period.
Donyai Starling was a star on both sides, piling up 17 rebounds to go with her 12 points. Jenna Wike had a team-high 15 points, while Drew Dufrane did a bit of everything, earning seven points, seven rebounds, eight assists and five steals. Laura Patulski finished with eight points.
On WG’s side, Cammryn Chawgo finished with 18 points, including three 3-pointers. Sierra Smith had 12 points, with Kyra Bednardski and Grace Osterdale managing six points apiece.
Meanwhile, at Camillus, the Liverpool boys basketball team also met West Genesee, and it proved close here, too, though the Warriors could not match its female counterparts and took a 52-50 defeat to the Wildcats.
Down 15-8 after one period, the Warriors adjutsted its defense during the second quarter and tied it, 21-21, by halftime. From there, neither side got away, but WG did just a bit more and held on in the final seconds.
Liverpool depended mostly on two players, Tyler Sullivan (19 points) and Matt Hunter (17 points), with no one else getting more than six points. But WG had three scoring threats, with Nick Cunningham getting 19 points, Matt Shoults 15 points and Troy Temara 10 points.
Each of Liverpool’s teams would take on rival Cicero-North Syracuse on Tuesday before games on Friday against Fayetteville-Manlius.
