Something special was happening with the Fayetteville-Manlius girls basketball team, as a 6-0 start had produced its first foray into the state Class AA rankings in a long while, the Hornets occupying the no. 13 spot.
Perhaps that proved unlucky, for right after those rankings were announced, F-M took its first defeat of the season, venturing to Liverpool Tuesday night and never getting much offense going in a 50-39 defeat to the Warriors.
Just at the .500 mark (4-4) as the game got underway, Liverpool, through an evenly played first half, showed that it belonged with the Hornets, inching out in front, 24-21. by the time they reached intermission.
Every opportunity F-M had to get even, Liverpool had an answer, and the Warriors got away in the fourth quarter, utilizing its depth and athleticism to wear the visitors down and outscore them 16-9.
D’Jhai Patterson-Ricks, with 14 points, was the only player to get to double figures, though Elizabeth Hall, with nine points, and Alexis Gray, with seven points and nine rebounds, offered some support.
For Liverpool, Jenna Wike, with 13 points and four rebounds, and Drew Dufrane, with 11 points and six rebounds, set the pace, but they got help from Trisha Lane and Holy Sleeth, who each had eight points as Lane contributed five rebounds. Taylor Van Camp had six points and two steals.
Prior to that, F-M hosted Henninger last Friday and rolled to a 61-27 victory, steadily working its way to a 34-19 halftime edge before dominating the third quarter, outscoring the Black Knights 21-3 in those eight minutes.
Patterson-Ricks led with 17 points, including three 3-pointers, but more importantly, she was getting substantial help on the offensive end. Carly Assimon’s 14 points included four 3-pointers, while Gray got 11 points. Alexis Schneider had a season-best eight points and Eliza Mento earned four of her six points at the free-throw line.
F-M goes from the loss to Liverpool to appearing early this week in the “More Than A Game” festival at SRC Arena, where four days of girls and boys basketball would help fill the holiday schedule and raise money for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital.
The Hornets face West Genesee in Monday’s opening round, with a tough game against Rush-Henrietta (Section V) or Norwich (Section IV) awaiting them the next day.
Meanwhile, the Fayetteville-Manlius boys basketball team was struggling, having taken back-to-back losses to Corcoran and West Genesee without senior center David Stegemann in the lineup.
Stegemann returned when F-M went to defending Section III Class AA champion Henninger last Friday, an opponent with which it had enjoyed great duels in the past, especially when guards Jake Wittig and Romero Collier went face-to-face.
Both had graduated now, but the Black Knights still held the upper hand, as it demonstrated by beating the Hornets 67-48. Stegemeann contributed six rebounds, but did not score a basket as Henninger jumped all over F-M during a 22-7 first quarter that proved decisive.
Down 39-20 at halftime, F-M kept fighting, but could do little to eat into Henninger’s lead. Jawaan Crouch had 14 points and seven assists, with Tim Zapisek adding nine points and three rebounds. No one else had more than four points as Destin Blunt led the Black Knights with 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Oray Gayle and Kiwana White had 10 points apiece.
And now F-M had to deal Tuesday night with Liverpool, who had roared out to a 6-1 start under its new head coach, former Syracuse University star Ryan Blackwell. Whatever it tried, though, the Hornets couldn’t stop the Warriors, either, taking an 85-62 defeat.
Steadily, Liverpool gained a 39-26 edge by halftime and never let up on its pace, especially Tyler Sullivan, who had a season-high 31 points, including five 3-pointers. F-M couldn’t concentrate on him, either, since Naj Johnson was earning 21 points and brothers Nate Cutler (12 points) and Will Cutler (eight points) produced, too.
Still, the Hornets had four players score in double figures. Tim Zapisek nearly had a double-double, with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Jawaan Crouch had 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Fernando Johnson managed 12 points and five rebounds as Stegemann, regaining some of his form, had 11 points and six rebounds. Ryan Miller contributed seven points.
Now the Hornets would attempt to turn things around by playing in the Hilton Tournament early next week, meeting Greece Arcadia in Tuesday’s opening round, and hoping to advance to a final against Hilton or Greece Athena.
