In a single Tuesday evening, each of the West Genesee basketball teams received reminders that maintaining their places atop the Section III Class AA ranks won’t prove easy.
The boys Wildcats were humbled by Liverpool 67-53 at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall, while on the girls side WG saw visiting Baldwinsville take over in the fourth quarter and beat them 53-40.
While WG’s boys were defeating Utica Proctor in its Dec. 7 opener, Liverpool, who had lost to Bishop Ludden the night before, had rebounded by holding off Cicero-North Syracuse.
Now the last two state Class AA champions would meet up on the OCC floor Liverpool is using as a home court while its high school gymnasium is getting fully rebuilt.
WG held Liverpool to six points in the first quarter, but only netted four of its own Production picked up on both ends, but it was decided in the third quarter, where the Warriors tore through WG’s defenses and outscored them 23-9, a surge from which the Wildcats could not recover.
Will Amica, in defeat, still had 18 points, while Adam Dudzinski earned 12 points. John Benson had eight points as, for Liverpool, Jacob Works led with 18 points, with Kyle Caves managing 12 points.
Moving to Friday’s action, WG faced Nottingham and turned it around, prevailing 63-45 with a defense that took over in the second quarter, limiting the Bulldogs to just three points.
All 10 Wildcats that saw action got on the scoreboard, Amica earning 20 points and Kam Jones stepping up with 13 points as Dudzinski had eight poitns and Jack Dalgety had seven points.
While all this was going on, WG’s girls, who had roared out to a 4-0 start, dealt with a Baldwinsville side that had won its first two games of the season.
With two swarming defenses that liked to press most of the time, every possession was a battle on nearly every inch of the court, with plenty of contact and each side having a difficult time converting, even from close range.
The Bees did manage to lead for most of the first half, and did go on a 10-2 run late in the second quarter to secure a 26-18 advantage going to the break.
Catie Cunningham helped pull WG back in the third period, scoring eight of her 12 points to help erase B’ville’s margin and tie it, 32-32.
But a trio of Bees would decide matters. First, it was Hannah Mimas hitting on a pair of 3-pointers, later adding a basket as eight of her 15 points came in the fourth quarter.
Then it was Katie Pascale, who had just two points going into the final period, using a series of drives and successful free throws to convert eight points, while freshman Kyrah Wilbur came off the bench to add four points, including a clinching three-point play with 1:09 left.
All told, B’ville outscored the Wildcats 16-3 over the games’ final four minutes. Aside from Cunningham, Meredith James paced WG’s attack, earning eight points.
Friday’s game between WG and visiting Nottingham also proved tense, but the Wildcats held off the Bulldogs 58-57.
Neither side could get away throughout the evening. WG trailed, 43-40, through three quarters, but fought to a slim lead and withstood a tremendous effort by Nottingham’s duo of Amaya Williams, who had 30 points, and Tayahja Scott, who had 21 points, the pair combining to make 10 3-pointers.
Only a career performance from Cunningham saved the Wildcats as she got 32 points, connecting on four 3-pointers. James and Molly Coyne had seven points apiece.
