Just how critical the Liverpool boys basketball team’s come-from-behind victory at West Genesee on Jan. 7 was became evident in the week that followed, when the Warriors reclaimed some of its best December form.
First, the Warriors visited Baldwinsville last Monday night, and played close to perfection in the first quarter before spending the rest of the game steadily adding to a big margin and flattening the Bees 77-47.
During those opening eight minutes, B’ville rarely got room to operate, and Liverpool turned every single Bees mistake into points on the other end. Consequently, the margin had grown to 22-4 by the time they reached the second period.
Refusing to let up, the Warriors built that margin the rest of the way, led by Tyler Sullivan, who poured in 25 points, and Will Cutler, whose 20 points included four successful 3-point shots.
Not to be forgotten, Naz Johnson finished with 10 points, just ahead of Cooper Chaffee, who had nine points, one of his best totals of the season. On B’ville’s side, only Jordan Fragale reached double figures, finishing with 11 points, five assists, four steals and three rebounds.
Now the Warriors were off until Saturday afternoon, when it hosted Auburn and found itself in a frantic, fast-paced affair before it got away in the second half and earned an 83-66 victory over the Maroons.
Even though Liverpool played at a blistering tempo during the first half, Auburn kept up, and the Warriors only led 51-46 at the break. Then it started to settled down on defense and, gradually, wore the Maroons down, all the while expanding its lead.
All 10 players that saw action earned at least one field goal, led by Will Cutler, who poured in 17 points. Nate Cutler had 12 points, with Joe Scro producing 11 points off the bench as Sullivan got 10 points. Cooper Chaffee (nine points), Johnson (eight points) and Devan Mederios (six points) were close behind. Anthony Torres led Auburn with 22 points.
Cicero-North Syracuse, feeling a bit more confident after its second-half comeback to beat Fayetteville-Manlius, went for a bigger prize last Monday, putting a scare into defending Section III Class AA champion Henninger before taking a 65-57 loss to the Black Knights.
Henninger had blasted C-NS 86-42 back on Dec. 1. With that rout still fresh in its collective mind, the Northstars proved a lot tougher in the rematch, trading the lead with the Black Knights throughout the first half and only trailing by one, 30-29, going into the break.
C-NS hung in there through most of the second half, too, but were thwarted every time it tried to catch up to the Black Knights, this despite 19 points from A.J. Nesci and Brendan Gacek earning 13 points and nine rebounds. Alex Gray added six points and Josh Ramirez six rebounds.
Destin Blunt, who had torched Liverpool for 32 points a week earlier, managed just 17 points here, but tacked on 15 rebounds and got help from Oray Gayle, who had 15 points and seven assists, and Daquan Brantley, who 15 points, four assists, three steals and three rebounds. Nijuwan Smith gained 13 rebounds as he and K.J. White earned nine points apiece.
Now C-NS would take its trip to Baldwinsville on Friday night, still in search of three more wins to get playoff-eligible. And it got one of them in the most exciting way possible, rallying in the second half, just as it did against Fayetteville-Manlius a week earlier, to beat the Bees 63-59.
During the game’s middle stages, the Bees appeared to gain some control, outscoring C-NS 20-14 in the second quarter to pull out in front. As the final period started, B’ville still led, 51-44, but at just the wrong moment its defense faltered, and the Northstars pounced, outscoring the Bees 19-8 in those last eight minutes.
For C-NS, Keegan Wright, with 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds, led the rally. Nesci emerged again with 13 points, five assists and four rebounds, while Gacek had nine points. Josh Ramirez chimed in with eight points and Jon Petrin contributed six points.
Adam Seguin’s great effort for B’ville included 19 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while Ryan Gell had 12 points and five rebounds. Fragale got 11 points, seven assists, three steals and three rebounds.
C-NS has just one game this week, hosting Auburn on Friday as Liverpool hosts Nottingham.
