A year after the Liverpool boys basketball team’s Section III Class AA championship dreams crashed against Bishop Ludden with Tyler Sullivan’s ill-timed ankle injury, the two sides are at it again.
Only now it’s the no. 4 seed Warriors meeting the top-seeded Gaelic Knights in the sectional semifinals, though the location – SRC Arena – is exactly the same as that 2016 final. They’ll meet Saturday at 4:30.
Ludden got there this time with a 64-40 quarterfinal win over “Holy War” rival Christian Brothers Academy Tuesday night.
While that was going on, Liverpool had its own issues to contend with against no. 5 Central Square. It didn’t prove easy for a long while, but a third quarter played close to perfection allowed the Warriors to push past the Redhawks 67-51.
While Liverpool enjoyed a first-round bye, Central Square had defeated Corcoran 53-48 in the opening round Feb. 17 and, with the likes of Brogan Laux and Dante Rogers on hand, the Redhawks would not let the Warriors have its way with them, either.
In fact, throughout the first half Central Square controlled matters by dictating the early tempo and then matching whatever Liverpool threw at them. This translated into a 33-27 halftime deficit for the Warriors and a real concern that dreams of a first sectional title in 18 years might get dashed.
Then the third quarter got underway, and the Liverpool side that won the CNY Counties League regular-season title showed up, on both ends. Not only did it pressure the Redhawks into a rash of turnovers, it turned them in to baskets on the other end, all part of a 22-3 blitz that left Central Square reeling.
Charles Pride led the comeback, as half of his 24 points came from four 3-pointers. Charlie Meile connected three times beyond the arc on his way to 15 points as Nahjeir Johnson got 11 points. In defeat, Laux led the Redhawks with 15 points and six rebounds, while Rogers had 14 points, six rebounds and five assists.
