ONONDAGA COUNTY –
What the West Genesee boys basketball team will experience on Tuesday night is the closest approximation to a championship game among the large-school ranks this winter.
It was the undefeated Wildcats against the undefeated Liverpool Warriors, not only a battle of teams without a defeat in 2021, but a showdown of the last two state Class AA champions – Liverpool in 2018, WG in 2019.
Neither side neglected the games leading up to this showdown, either, with WG facing Henninger last Tuesday night and putting together a 47-35 win over the Black Knights.
This was a night where the Wildcats’ offense never could get into a consistent rhythm. Sensing that, the defense took over, never letting Henninger score more than 10 points in any single quarter.
Adam Dudzinski, with 17 points, and Christian Amica, with 12 points, more than made up for the struggles of Jack Dalgety, who was held to a season-low three points.
One more obstacle remained before the Liverpool clash and the Wildcats passed it with relative ease last Friday night, leading from the outset against Fayetteville-Manlius and prevailing 56-43.
That first-quarter 19-9 outburst set the game’s tone, with W’G’s defense again stingy as, among the Hornets players, only Luke Davidson, with 10 points, reached double figures.
Dalgety more than doubled that total, rebounding from his Henninger struggles to put up 21 points. Amica continued to surge, with 12 points, as Dudzinski got seven points.
As this went on, Liverpool earned back-to-back wins over F-M early in the week and then topped Corcoran on Saturday, in each instance breaking up close games with strong fourth-quarter surges – something the Wildcats hope to avoid.
WG’s girls basketball team was on its own hot streak. having picked up its play Feb. 20 with a win over Central Square, and didn’t stop there – at least until late in the week.
Two days later the Wildcats ruined Jamesville-DeWitt’s Senior Night, handing the 2-0 Red Rams its first setback while working its way to a 49-40 victory.
Where this game was won was on the defensive side. Forcing a rash of turnovers and rushed shots, the Wildcats held J-D to just seven total points in the second and third quarters, erasing an early 13-11 deficit.
All the while, Catie Cunningham proved impossible to contain, carrying WG’s attack for long stretches as she finished with 28 points, with help from Erin DiPaola, who had 10 points, and Molly Benetti, who had six points.
On the other end, the Wildcats held J-D’s 1,000-point scorer, Momo LaClair, to nine points, which the Rams could not overcome despite Lily Loewenguth’s 18 points.
Confident from that win, WG went to Henninger a day later and outscored the Black Knights 28-2 in the first quarter, led 53-10 by halftime and went on to prevail 68-24.
Cunningham managed to outscore Henninger by herself, finishing with 25 points. Benetti was close behind, earning 16 points as 12 different Wildcats got on the scoreboard.
Only on Friday did WG get caught, and that was largely due to Fayetteville-Manlius senior guard Lexie Roe, who all but carried the Hornets past the Wildcats 65-59 in overtime.
In a game close from start to finish, neither side could break clear. Down 42-40 going to the fourth quarter, WG did enough to tie it, 57-57, only to get held to just two points in the four-minute OT period.
And all through the night, the Niagara University-bound Roe burned the Wildcats, hitting on nine three-pointers and setting a career mark with 41 points. So WG lost despite Cunningham getting 22 points, Benetti hitting on 16 points and Molly Coyne contributing 10 points.
