Inching up to no. 9 in the state Class AA rankings, the Liverpool boys basketball team met light resistance as it passed the midway point of its regular season still without a blemish.
The Warriors first went to Fayetteville-Manlius last Tuesday night, with both schools taking part in a “Teddy Bear Toss”. The first 3-pointer hit by either team would lead to fans throwing teddy bears on the court, all to raise money for charity.
Peter Cerrone hit that first 3-pointer in the game’s opening minute, from the left corner. Once the teddy bears were cleared, the game resumed and Liverpool went on to beat F-M 72-41.
It was 20-6 by the end of the first quarter, and the margin kept growing, Noah Issakainen getting 13 points and Allan Wilmes adding 12 points as Nas Johnson got 10 points. Jake Piseno had eight points and Joe DeSocio had seven points as Cerrone got six points.
Meanwhile, Cicero-North Syracuse, whose only loss came to Liverpool on Dec. 22, emerged from an unusual 18-day hiatus to play at Baldwinsville, and moved to 9-1 on the season with yet another late-game comeback to beat the Bees 71-63.
If the Bees expected rust from the Northstars, it guessed wrong because C-NS was sharp from the outset, even as B’ville played well, too, and inched into a 39-34 lead by halftime.
Most of that margin vanished by the time it reached the fourth quarter, and like many other times this season C-NS closed strong, outscoring the Bees 22-14 in those last eight minutes.
Jaysaun Gunn paced the Northstars, earning 21 points and six assists. Omar Mere had 11 points, four rebounds and four steals, with Alex Gray (10 points, three rebounds, three assists) and A.J. Forney (nine points) close behind.
Lukas Merluzzi had eight points and Justin DelVecchio contributed six points. Casey Pluff led B’ville with 16 points, most of it from four 3-pointers. Jacob Marshall had 14 points, with Jon Starling adding 12 points.
A night later, C-NS made up the snowed-out Jan. 5 game against Nottingham, who had just upended Henninger on Tuesday for its biggest win of the season.
The Northstars beat the Bulldogs 63-54 in much the same way as it has so many others this winter, keeping pace throughout the early going as both C-NS and Nottingham made sustained runs and, by doing so, could not create any sort of separation.
When the fourth quarter started, the two sides were tied, 46-46, but with Mere at the forefront, C-NS again played its best all-around basketball in the homestretch, pulling clear as Mere recorded a career-best 25 points and added 10 rebounds.
Gunn gained 11 points, with Forney getting eight points, four assists and three rebounds. Gray had seven points and five rebounds. Kyle Cody gained six points as Nottingham got 18 points from Mazi Jackson and 16 points from Jakair Sanchez.
Only the weather could stop C-NS or Liverpool, postponing big home games on Friday night as the Northstars were set to welcome Henninger and the Warriors were to take on Baldwinsville.
