For the first time in more than a decade, the Liverpool boys basketball team is basking in the accomplishment of an undefeated regular season.
Three more wins last week completed the 20-0 jaunt through the first part of the Warriors’ campaign, the effort capped on Saturday when Liverpool, now no. 4 in the state Class AA rankings, went to Rochester and defeated Aquinas 67-53.
This was not as strong an Irish team as in seasons past, but that mattered little to the Warriors, who played steady, strong defense in the first half while working its way to a 27-19 lead.
The margin kept growing as Alan Willmes Jr. led the way with 18 points, while Kyle Butler had 14 points. Noah Issakainen finsished with 13 points and Peter Cerrone chimed in with 10 points.
With things under control, Liverpool limited the minutes of its top scorer, Nas Johnson, while Charles Pride, in his second game back from an ankle injury, continued to get used to full-speed action and contributed six points.
It all started last Tuesday, where Liverpool’s seniors were honored prior to the last home game of the regular season against Fayetteville-Manlius, with special attention given to Johnson since he had passed 1,000 career points in a Feb. 2 win at Corcoran.
Then the Warriors, still without Pride in the lineup, beat the Hornets 77-64, not matching the 72-41 rout of F-M from early January, but still quite comfortable as Liverpool bolted out to a 39-17 halftime lead.
Johnson led with 17 points, followed closely by Issakainen, whose 15 points included three 3-pointers. Willmes (12 points) and Cerrone (10 points) also reached double figures as Connor Jones stepped up for nine points. Nick Klein and Joe DeSocio earned six points apiece.
Pride finally returned on Friday, at Baldwinsville, another instance where a Liverpool opponent stayed within range for a while, but was still put away as the Warriors beat the Bees 85-70.
Having beaten Cicero-North Syracuse 70-67 earlier in the week to keep its playoff hopes alive, B’ville only trailed the Warriors by six, 36-30, at halftime, but the margin got to double digits in the third quarter as Johnson and Willmes lit it up.
Finishing with 28 points, Johnson could flourish because Willmes nearly matched him, earning 24 points. Butler had nine points and Cerrone eight points as B’ville got 24 points from J.J. Starling and 16 points from Sunday Joshua.
The contrast between Liverpool’s undefeated ride and the turbulence faced by C-NS had only grown with time, with the Northstars seeming far away from the glory and promise of its 8-0 start, with no setback more painful than the one against B’ville.
Though it had endured a 3-7 stretched since starting 8-0, the Northstars won 71-63 at B’ville a month earlier, and were poised for a sweep thanks to a big third quarter where it overcome the Bees’ 31-30 halftime lead.
Now up 57-43, C-NS may have relaxed – a big mistake, as it turned out. The Bees got hot from the field as the duo of Starling and Jake Marshall led a 26-10 charge that snatched the victory. All told, Marshall had 24 points, half of it from four 3-pointers, while Starling connected for 16 points.
C-NS, in defeat, got 20 points from Jaysaun Gunn, with Omar Mere (12 points) and A.J. Forney (11 points) also getting into double figures. Justin DelVecchio had seven points as Riley Hogan and Lukas Merluzzi had six points apiece.
Despite what had taken place against B’ville, the Northstars could turn things around if it won at Henninger last Friday, and it played quite well most of the night, but could not overcome a poor start in a 72-68 defeat to the Black Knights.
Henninger bolted out to a 22-9 lead by the end of the first quarter, led by Jadan Graves, who would ultimately hit six 3-pointers and finish with 30 points.
From there, the chase began as C-NS matched baskets through the middle stages and, in the fourth quarter, nearly caught up.
Gunn, with 23 points, five rebounds and three steals, led that push, with Mere getting 11 points and six rebounds. Forney, Riley Hogan and Nick DeMonte had eight points apiece as Forney grabbed 11 rebounds and Merluzzi finished with seven points.
