All through the last month, the Liverpool girls basketball team patiently waited for its chance to upend West Genesee, who had sprinted to the top of the CNY Counties League.
Back on Jan. 10, the two were supposed to meet on the Warriors’ home court, but it got postponed. Changes to the schedule meant that, when the first meeting finally took place last Tuesday night, it was in Camillus, with the rematch set for Liverpool exactly two weeks later.
In this first encounter, the Warriors showed it could stay close, but it never put together the sustained scoring run it needed to prevent a 60-46 defeat to the Wildcats.
Only trailing by two, 15-13, after one period, Liverpool saw the pace vary from a quiet second quarter to a busy third quarter. The common thread in both periods was that WG would keep gradually building its margin and not let the Warriors get too close.
Still, Kyra Grimshaw would pour in 18 points and Jenna Wike, aided by three 3-pointers, gained 17 points. No other Warriors players had more than Lexi Emmi’s total of five points. On WG’s side, Camryn Chawgo hit four -3-pointers to match Mackenzie Smith’s total of 16 points and Madison Smith added 15 points.
When Cicero-North Syracuse took its turn against West Genesee o n Friday night, it played solid defense, but still lost to the Wildcats 45-29, a score not that different from the 40-28 defeat the Northstars took back on Dec. 23.
C-NS was tied, 9-9, with the Wildcats after one quarter, but WG broke out to grab a 25-18 halftime lead. By the end of the third quarter, the margin was 40-23, and the Wildcats could make it from there since no Northstars player had more than the six points put up by Vassallo.
Each of the eight WG players that saw action converted at least one field goal, with Mya Case taking charge thanks to her 13 points, which included three 3-pointers. Chawgo had seven points, with Aleysha Castanon contributing six points.
As it sped toward a second regular-season clash with Liverpool this weekend, C-NS had a different goal in mind – just getting into the Section III playoffs, something it never had to worry about when it won the sectional crown eight consecutive years.
In last Wednesday night’s game against Corcoran, the Northstars beat the Cougars 47-22, though the game was close much of the way. It wasn’t until C-NS put together a closing 19-2 spurt that things were put under control.
Julianna Vassallo and Aniah Ingram led the Northstars, each of them earning 11 points. Nia Williams gained nine points, while Ariana Corasaniti earned six points. Morgan Siechen and Isabella Kingsley had five points apiece.
While C-NS was taking a loss at West Genesee, Liverpool proved more successful, turning back Nottingham 51-36 in a steady effort that saw the Warriors gradually build a 33-23 halftime margin and protect it against all of the Bulldogs’ charges.
The production was more spread out, for though Wike and Grimshaw led with 14 points apiece, seven other players notched a field goal, which made up for the fact that the third-leading scorer, Holly Sleeth, had just five points.
