Amid a tumultuous opening week of high school boys basketball, Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse got together last Friday night to renew their neighborhood rivalry, finding out just where they stood.
Each side entered the 2015-16 season with a lot of questions. At Liverpool, it was about the presence of first-year head coach Ryan Blackwell and how, amid a busy early schedule, he would handle a roster that included many players who had just finished a long and successful football season for the Warriors.
With C-NS, the questions were entirely different. Massive struggles a season ago were fresh in the mind of head coach John Haas and his players, and they were determined to bounce back, though doubts had to arise again in the wake of last Tuesday’s 86-45 defeat to defending Section III Class AA champion Henninger.
Going head-to-head with Liverpool, the Northstars did stay on even terms for a half, only to go cold in a lopsided third quarter that made the difference as the Warriors earned a 72-51 victory.
With a big crowd looking on, the two sides traded baskets until halftime. Then, clinging to a 30-27 edge, Liverpool cranked up its defense, and that, plus cold C-NS shooting, produced a 20-2 blitz through the third period, from which the visitors could not recover.
Nate Cutler had the hot hand for the Warriors, with much of his 21 points coming from five 3-pointers. Tyler Sullivan had 18 points, with Will Cutler adding 13 points and Naj Johnson adding nine points. On C-NS’s side, 11 different players scored, but no one had more than A.J. Nesci’s total of 12 points, while Brendan Gacek added 10 points and Eric Bowen got seven points.
What made the Henninger game so discouraging was that C-NS was convinced it had fixed a lot of chemistry issues in the off-season and that the Black Knights had taken heavy graduation losses, including Romero Collier, who’s now at Niagara University.
But the Northstars quickly found out that Henninger’s other players were eager to step out of Collier’s shadows. A 27-9 second-quarter blitz by the Black Knights broke the game open, and C-NS was in catch-up mode the rest of the way, unable to stop the inside-outside tandem of Jadan Graves, whose 28 points included seven 3-pointers, and Destin Blunt, who pounded his way to 25 points in the paint.
Nesci and Gacek led the Northstars with eight points apiece as Jordan Gannett added nine rebounds. Alex Gray had six points and seven rebounds as Lorenzo Thompson and Eric Bowen also finished with six points.
On that same night, Liverpool won Blackwell’s coaching debut against Baldwinsville, overcoming a rough start with a tremendous all-around effort, especially in the middle stages, to defeat the Bees 63-45.
The Warriors lost to B’ville in the sectional playoffs a season ago, but the Bees had graduated most of its starting lineup. That didn’t matter much early, with B’ville leading 18-9 after one period, but once Liverpool applied more defensive pressure, the game turned. The Warriors dominated the second and third periods, outscoring the Bees 37-10 in those frames to erase any suspense.
Sullivan put up 27 points, while Will Cutler finished with 11 points. Johnson was coming off football, but still managed nine points as Nate Cutler contributed seven points.
Right after beating C-NS, Liverpool would get challenged Saturday when it faced defending Section III Class A champion Christian Brothers Academy in the Peppino’s Invitational at Henninger High School. Despite a tremendous effort, one dry spell proved costly to the Warriors in a 60-56 defeat.
Liverpool dominated the boards in the first half and led most of the way, but CBA rallied to tie it, 27-27, at the break. Then the Brothers’ stifling defense took over, holding the Warriors without a field goal for more than six minutes as it took the lead for good.
Any time Liverpool tried to catch up in the late going, CBA answered it, especially M,ark Lutz, who poured in 23 points, including four 3-pointers. Charles Pride had a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds as Dan Damico also got 15 points. For the Warriors, Sullivan and Johnson each had 14 points, with Will Cutler adding 13 points.
After going to Auburn on Tuesday, Liverpool is off the rest of this week, with C-NS going to Rome Free Academy Monday and hosting Baldwinsville Tuesday before a Friday-night visit from West Genesee.