In the week leading up to Christmas, the winter sports teams of Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse would engage in a quintet of head-to-head showdowns, including ice hockey and basketball.
But it started on the lanes at Flamingo Bowl, where undefeated Warriors and Northstars sides battled for first place in their respective Salt City Athletic Conference Metro divisions, and both would go in Liverpool’s favor – but not by much.
In fact, each of the two matches were 2-1 decisions claimed by the Warriors, though the Northstars had plenty of individual standouts and made things tense from first to last shot.
The top series was shared by Liverpool’s Zak Ormsby and C-NS’s J.J. O’Connell, both posting three-game totals of 683as Ormsby posted a 257 high game and O’Connell had a251 high game.
Deacon Roberson gave Liverpool a 658 set that included a 259 high game. Zach Emm, who rolled a 300 game against Central Square on Dec. 15, had a 633 series for the Northstars as Tim Cloonan got a 610 set, while the Warriors’ Lucas Pobutkiewicz had a 602 series.
Meanwhile, in the girls match, C-NS had the top individual performance from Kaitlin Antineli, whose steady shotmaking led to a 641 series, while Carly Lescenski gained a 572 series.
To top them, Liverpool needed a deeper roster, which made the difference despite the fact that neither Dailyn McCarthy (541 series) nor Ashley Hardy (540 series) could match the totals of Antineli and Lescenski.
Liverpool had swept Cortland a day earlier, with the boys Warriors pulling out a 2-1 decision over the Purple Tigers.
Zak Ormsby’s 249 game led to a 634 series, with Brandon Davis shooting a 246 during his 615 set and Lucas Pobutkiewicz getting a 613 series and 215 high game. Brian Ngo led Cortland with a 628 series ahead of Michael Davis (568 series) and Mason Bellrose (561 series).
The girls match for the Warriors was a 3-0 sweep of Cortland. Hardy shot a 642 series for the girls Warriors that included a 237 high game as Riley Warren got a 538 series (193 high game) and Danielle Maher had a 513 set with a 202 high game.
After facing each other, Liverpool and C-NS went on to matches on Thursday that both would sweep by equal 3-0 margins as the Warriors handled West Genesee and the Northstars did the same to Syracuse City.
Liverpool’s girls won at Flamingo Bowl with Dominique Cimini stepping up to shoot a 541 series with a 212 high game as McCarthy had a 189 game in her 514 set. The boys Warriors had a 256 game from Roberson and a 232 game from Ormsby.
As for C-NS in its sweep of Syracuse, Emm had a 268 game against West Genesee, part of a 648 series as Nick Bough got a 245 game in his 617 set and O’Connell earned a 613 series (226 high game). The girls match included a 446 series from Katie Cloonan, along with a 189 game by Elianna Pitts and a 171 game from Trinity Drodz.
