In some ways, the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse boys basketball teams could afford some slip-ups early in February, since both of them had locked away Section III Class AA playoff berths.
However, what happened early last week was far from encouraging, with the Warriors and Northstars both taking decisive defeats to Syracuse city opponents.
In Liverpool’s case, it played at Henninger last Tuesday and was on even terms most of the night – but only after a disastrous first quarter that had everything to do with the Warriors falling to the Black Knights 76-56.
Henninger (who lost 63-56 to Liverpool earlier this season) was 6-11 going into the game, badly needing a win to keep post-season hopes alive, and that desperation translated into a near-perfect start where it converted on one end and shut down Liverpool, too, all while building a 24-4 advantage.
To its credit, the Warriors kept it from getting worse, Kyle Butler putting up 18 points as Lateef Edwards had 14 points, with Ryan Valentine adding eight points and Jacob Works getting six points.
But Henninger’s Nareon Williams kept getting to the foul line – and kept converting, 16 times overall, on his way to 28 points as Tong Mading had 15 points and Jason Tredo added 12 points.
Meanwhile, C-NS was hosting Nottingham, forced into a pace it did not want and taking a 79-62 defeat to the Bulldogs, who avenged an earlier 52-51 defeat to the Northstars.
One difference in this game from Liverpool-Henninger was that Nottingham’s early surge carried through the entire first half, with red-hot shooting from the Bulldogs creating a 29-16 first-quarter margin and 52-28 deficit for the Northstars to deal with by halftime.
Despite 16 points from Nick DeMonte and 13 points from Anthony Tricarico, Nottingham proved out of reach, Mazi Jackson hitting on six 3-pointers for the Bulldogs as he got 25 points and Khai Pugh connecting four times beyond the arc on his way to 24 points.
When it was Liverpool’s turn to go against Nottingham Friday night, the Bulldogs beat them 74-65, a solid late-game effort taking place only after it fell behind 39-22 in the first two quarters.
Romeo Clarke had 13 points, with Jake Piseno and Alex Ruston getting eight points apiece. Works, Edwards and Jack Pento had six points apiece, but Butler was held to one field goal.
Nottginham only had five players on the scoreboard, not even half Liverpool’s total – but they all hit double figures. Jackson had 18 points, with Dominic Dickson and Nykis Edwards earning 16 points apiece, Pugh 14 points and Jaden Ezomo 10 points.
C-NS had better results against Fayetteville-Manlius, topping the Hornets 64-45 as DeMonte remained steady in his production, getting 17 points and six rebounds, plus three assists.
Justin DelVecchio had 12 points, five assists and three rebounds, with Tricarico contributing 11 points. Brayden McLean had eight points and Kyle Haas earned seven points.
