It took a return to its home court, along with the presence of a long-time rival, to get the Liverpool boys basketball team out of its early-season doldrums.
Having lost five in a row on the road, the Warriors reclaimed the form it showed so much the last two years in the course of Tuesday night’s 72-55 victory over Cicero-North Syracuse.
From a defense that limited the Northstars to one field goal in the first quarter to a group of reserves that, at various key moments, took over the game, Liverpool had plenty go right.
That had not happened in the course of the Warriors’ 0-5 start, though those defeats came to a strong quintet of top teams – Niagara Falls, Corcoran, Utica-Notre Dame, Baldwinsville and West Genesee, in that order.
Combined, those teams had records of 21-4 going into this week, and three of them were in the state Class AA rankings, with the other two gaining “honorable mention” status.
No matter the circumstances, though, Liverpool badly needed any kind of win, and its defense stifled C-NS throughout the opening stages, which allowed it to work through a drought of more than three minutes without a point.
The first big spark came from Romeo Clarke, the transfer from New York City, who in the second quarter gave the Warriors eight points, including a key 3-pointer right before the horn that thwarted a C-NS charge and created a 36-21 halftime lead.
Then it was Ryan Valentine getting hot from the outside, as he scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half, helping Liverpool pull further away as the margin grew to 54-27 late in the third quarter.
As this was going on, the girls basketball teams from C-NS and Liverpool met, and the host Northstars broke out early and, led by sophomore forward Jessica Cook, defeated the Warriors 60-35.
Hot shooting in the first quarter pushed the Northstars in front 24-12, a margin that held until the second half, when C-NS’s defense contained Liverpool for long stretches.
Constantly, the Northstars fed the ball to Cook in the paint, and she responded with a season-high 27 points. Cook didn’t work alone, though.
Alexandra Miller had nine points for C-NS, with Gianna Chairmonte adding eight points. Mackenzie White and Aniah Ingram had six points apiece as Amanda Barnell and Bella Barner led Liverpool, each scoring eight points.
This followed C-NS’s 70-31 romp over Corcoran on Dec. 15 at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall where Cook gained 19 points and Morgan Siechen’s four 3-pointers accounted for most of her career-best 15 points. Brandi Feeney had 10 points as Ingram finished with eight points.
