They were in the same building at Onondaga Community College, though not on the same court, and not with the same stakes, as it was nine months ago when the Section III Class AA boys basketball championship was on the line.
The modern expanse of SRC Arena was replaced by the intimate atmosphere of adjacent Allyn Hall, where an overflow crowd witnessed the reunion of Liverpool and Bishop Ludden in Saturday’s grand finale of the season-opening Peppino’s Invitational.
This edition, though, ended just like the last one did, with the Gaelic Knights’ defense the main factor in establishing a big early margin and the overall difference-maker as it again defeated the Warriors 65-50.
Everyone in the building knew what happened in last March’s sectional final. Tyler Sullivan was injured not long after the opening tip-off, and without its best player, Liverpool got shut down and Ludden claimed the sectional title by a score of 49-37.
Though Sullivan was gone, along with other key players on both sides, the Warriors still felt that this game with Ludden was a bit of unfinished business. What’s more, Liverpool had picked up junior Charles Pride, a transfer from CBA, to bring firepower to an already potent lineup that returned the likes of Naz Johnson, Devan Medeiros and Cooper Chaffee.
However, the Gaelic Knights still had, in junior guard Mika Adams-Woods, a game-changer few others could match. It was up to the Warriors’ defense to make sure Adams-Woods didn’t control matters.
Fortunately, no one got hurt early, but Ludden still broke out in front during the first quarter on back-to-back baskets from Adams-Woods, which launched a 12-2 run
And the Gaelic Knights’ lead kept growing as 6-foot-7 eighth-grader Jai Smith came off the bench and he made an instant impact on both ends, augmenting the 13 points put up by Adams-Woods in the first half as Joe Connor got eight points.
Really, though, it was Ludden’s all-around defense that controlled the game. From blocking shots to taking charges to making sure that every possession, every inch of court was contested, the Gaelic Knights stifled Liverpool in the same manner than it did back in March.
Trailing 34-20 at halftime, the Warriors looked for any kind of opening, and it came when Ludden went cold early in the third quarter, not scoring for nearly four minutes. Yet it wasn’t until it scored the last six points of the period to cut its deficit to six, 40-34, that Liverpool began to make the Gaelic Knights worry.
But Ludden did not come close to panicking. Instead, it opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run to restore its double-digit margin at 49-36, and this time Liverpool could not answer it.
Adams-Woods, who finished with 22 points, provided a telling sequence with less than five minutes left. After converting a pair of free throws, Adams-Woods made a steal seconds later and, with a two-on-one break, opted to pass instead of drive to the basket, finding Connor for an easy lay-up.
Connor, with 13 points, offered the most support to Adams-Woods as Keandre Sanders and Sh’ikem Lee got eight points apiece and Ed Walser scored all six of his poiints in the fourth quarter.
Pride finished with 20 points in his Warriors debut, but no other Liverpool player hit double figures and only two of them, Johnson and Chaffee, had more than one field goal, Johnson earning eight points and Chaffee four points.
There’s a chance Ludden and Liverpool could meet again later this month, on Dec. 28, if both win their opening-round games during the Gaelic Knights’ annual Rosemary Corcoran Holiday Tournament the night before.
This capped an exciting weekend where, on Friday night, Cicero-North Syracuse sought its second consecutive win at Rome Free Academy, only to drop a 95-87, double-overtime decision to the Black Knights.
Amid a fast pace, the game was close throughout regulation, with the Northstars rallying from a 54-50 deficit to tie it, 71-71, this despite a string of missed free throws. When one four-minute OT period was not enough to settle matters, another took place, and RFA went in front to stay.
Jaysaun Gunn was sensational for C-NS, earning 35 points, while Alexander Gray pulled off a rare 20-20 effort, grabbing 20 rebounds to go with his 21 points. Lorenzo Thompson got nine rebounds, but was held to three points as Eric Bowen got eight points and five rebounds and Lucas Merluzzi added six points.
On the other side, the Black Knights had a bit more scoring balance. Ethan Powell had 30 points, including four 3-pointers, but T.J. Behlin (16 points), Gavin Mosher (15 points) and Quameek Brownlee (14 points) also provided plenty of offensive production.
