Amid the bustle of the boys basketball holiday tournament schedule, Bishop Ludden and Westhill were going to stand out, regardless of what took place.

For the Gaelic Knights, hosting its annual Rosemary Corcoran Holiday Classic provided a chance to reestablish itself as the Section III Class AA front-runner.

Instead, it got humbled in Sunday night’s championship game by visiting Liverpool in an 83-64 defeat only made closer by a string of baskets by the reserves.

Going into the game, Ludden held an unbeaten (6-0) mark, a no. 21 state Class AA ranking and had just returned several key players, including guard Mika Adams-Woods, from brief suspensions served earlier in the month during last Saturday’s 60-43 opening-round victory over New Hartford .

Against the Spartans, defense was the story, with the Gaelic Knights gaining most of its edge in a 30-18 first half and then answering every New Hartford charge. Adams-Woods had 20 points in his return, helped by Joe Connors, who poured in 17 points. Sh’ikem lee added seven points.

Now came Liverpool, who was riding a four-game win streak and had not yet cracked the state rankings, but at 7-1 carried a confident tone that was established right from the opening tip-off.

It took just 90 seconds for the Warriors to go up 9-0 on Ludden, keyed by 3-pointers from Nate Cutler and Will Cutler. And for the rest of the half, Liverpool stayed hot, drilling seven 3-pointers and using strong passes to set up other easy baskets.

Though the Warriors’ top threat, Tyler Sullivan, waited until the midway point of the first quarter to get on the board, he landed 14 first-half points, while reserve Devan Mederios added 10 points. All of this helped the Warriors race to a 47-32 halftime lead.

Though the game’s pace slowed down in the third quarter, Liverpool extended its lead, It did so by mixing up man-to-man and zone defenses to force the Gaelic Knights into outside shots and tightening up its work on the boards, too.

Meanwhile, Sullivan, on his way to tournament MVP honors, had 12 more points in that period on his way to a game-high total of 29 points, the Warriors’ lead growing to 30 before Ludden made up some of the margin against Liverpool’s reserves. Nate Cutler finished with 20 points as Will Cutler gained 11 points.

Adams-Woods again paced Ludden, but his total dipped to 13 points. Matt Hosek gained 11 points, with Connors getting nine points. Lee and Will Engelhardt had seven points apiece and Jim Grabowski finished with six points.

Two nights later, at Christian Brothers Academy, Westhill, no. 15 in the state Class B rankings, hit the big stage to play in the Bottar-Leone Holiday Classic, starting with an opening-round showdown against defending Section III Class AA champion Henninger.

And unlike the season before, the Warriors would get the best of the Black Knights, taking charge early and withstanding a series of late charges for a 68-61 victory.

Not once did Westhill trail. Antonio Scrimale and Owen Matukas hit 3-pointers during a 10-0 first-quarter run as the Warriors streaked out to a 17-4 lead, and from there the game evolved into a chase.

Led by Oray Gayle, who would finish with 25 points, Henninger got within five in the second quarter, but Westhill stretched out the margin to 35-25 by halftime and led by as much as 14 deep into the third period.

Not giving up, the Black Knights clamped down on defense, and it sparked another comeback, which pushed Henninger within four, 58-54, with two minutes to play. But free throws by Ryan Roland and a terrific break of full-court pressure that culminated with Chase Gedney’s basket off a feed from Kameren Jackson allowed the Warriors to hang on.

Four Westhill players scored in double figures, led again by Roland, who had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists. Gedney earned a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebound as Matukas produced 13 points and Scrimale added 10 points. Jackson had 11 rebounds and four assists to go with his six points.

Host CBA beat Jamesville-DeWitt 78-60, setting up a big-time match-up in the final between the Brothers and Westhill on Wednesday night. And the game lived up to expectations, with the Warriors rallying in the final minutes, only to get thwarted in a 64-62 defeat.

Trailing 62-55 with less than two minutes left, Westhill resurrected itself with seven consecutive points, the last of them a basket by Matukas after a steal by Roland. This pulled the Warriors even, 62-62, with 26 seconds to play ,though it left plenty of time for the Brothers to answer.

After a time-out, CBA sophomore guard Charles Pride took the ball at the top of the key. Though he had several options, including a couple of open teammates, Pride drove to his right, all the way to the basket, and converted with less than four seconds left.

Westhill had one time-out left, but chose instead to rush up the floor. Roland, from near mid-court, tried a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer – and it bounced off the rim.

To a large degree, Roland was the game’s central figure. He torched CBA for 22 first-half points, helping Westhill lead by as much as eight and go to the break still up, 38-33.

Having played every minute in games on back-to-back nights, Roland began to tire in the second half. Sensing this, the Brothers switched fresh defenders on him, ranging from Pride to Dan Damico to Paul Aversa, and they shut him out until the last minute of the game.

Meanwhile, the teams stayed close until CBA appeared to grab control when Mark Lutz hit consecutive 3-pointers and Nick Aversa, who had a season-high 14 points, hit from beyond the arc, all within the span of a minute, to put the Brothers up 62-55 with less than two minutes left.

Still, Westhill wasn’t done. Jackson’s 3-pointer with 1:27 left was followed by a missed free throw from the Brothers and Roland breaking his long drought with a driving lay-up before the steal and basket by Matukas tied it, setting up Pride’s big moment.

Named the tournament MVP, Pride had 11 points, the same total as Lutz, while Damico led CBA with 17 points. Gedney gave Westhll 18 points, 12 of them in the second half, plus seven rebounds as Matukas got 13 points. Roland added six rebounds and five assists as Jackson got seven rebounds.