Tyler Sullivan ran onto the court Saturday night at SRC Arena with his Liverpool boys basketball teammates, determined to end the program’s 17-year wait for a Section III championship.
But Sullivan did not run off the court.
Instead, at the end of the Warriors’ 49-37 defeat to Bishop Ludden in the sectional Class AA final, Sullivan walked slowly, still in pain from an ankle injury suffered less than 90 seconds into the game, his premature exit a blow from which Liverpool could not recover.
For all of the wonderful things that took place during Ryan Blackwell’s first season at the helm, for Liverpool partisans it will always end up accompanied by regret and wonder at how things may have turned out had Sullivan not got hurt.
“It’s so hard for him,” said Blackwell. “We did not get to play the game that we wanted to play. It’s unfair, but that’s life.”
Ludden head coach Pat Donnelly agreed. “You root for a kid like Tyler,” he said. “His absence changed the whole complexion of the game.”
Though many different players contributed to Liverpool’s 18-5 run this winter, no one meant more than Sullivan. The senior point guard had averaged nearly 20 points per game this season, led the team in assists and his leadership, on and off the court, fueled the team’s success.
Back when the Warriors routed Ludden 83-65 on Dec. 27 in the finals of the Gaelic Knights’ own holiday tournament, Sullivan had burned the Gaelic Knights for 29 points and was named tournament MVP. Both sides fully expected him to play a major role in the sectional finals rematch, too.
Then, less than two minutes into the game, just as Naz Johnson was scoring Liverpool’s first basket, Sullivan went down under the Gaelic Knights’ hoop.
In deep pain, Sullivan went to the bench, where his ankle was taped and he sat out the rest of the first quarter. He returned early in the second period, but with 5:53 left in the half, Sullivan again exited, and he would not return to the game.
Even with Sullivan out, Liverpool still had a pair of dangerous 3-point threats in brothers Will and Nate Cutler, plus a solid inside rotation featuring Johnson, Devan Mederios and Cooper Chaffee.
Against them, Ludden applied tight man-to-man pressure, far different than the first meeting, when it tried a zone and got burned by the Warriors’ hot long-distance shooting.
Fired up by Sullivan’s unexpected absence, Ludden hit plenty of outside shots in the first quarter which, combined with eight points from forward Chris Allen, helped the Gaelic Knights grab a 23-15 lead.
Gradually, the pace slowed, and that allowed the Warriors to hang close. Liverpool, trailing 31-22 at halftime, held the Gaelic Knights to just two field goals in the third quarter, moving within six, 35-29, so the issue was far from settled.
“Our guys didn’t give up, and we fought hard,” said Blackwell.
Two problems remained, though. Liverpool was missing too many close-up shots, and unlike the Warriors, the Gaelic Knights still had its best player, sophomore Mika Adams-Woods, on the floor.
And Adams-Woods would spark a fourth-quarter getaway with back-to-back steals and six of his game-high 15 points during a decisive 10-1 run.
Johnson not only led Liverpool with 11 points, he also used a series of blocked shots to anchor his team’s defense. Mederios had nine points, with Nate Cutler held to seven points and Will Cutler limited to five points, each of them struggling without Sullivan to take pressure – and defensive attention – off them.
Even with the ending, though, the Warriors could marvel at what it accomplished, going from eight wins to 18 and only having an injury at the worst time possible keeping them from a sectional banner.
“The way they turned it around, they’re always champions in my eyes,” said Blackwell.
