ONONDAGA COUNTY –
No championship was on the line, and no trophies or banners would get handed out, when Liverpool met up with West Genesee last Tuesday night in a clash of undefeated boys basketball powers who won the last two state Class AA championships.
At the end, though, the Wildcats were on top, surviving an all-out challenge from a short-handed Warriors squad to prevail by a score of 70-63
With two weeks to go in the season, both sides entered the game without a blemish.
Liverpool carried a 7-0 record built on an aggressive, multifaceted attack, but it would play against the Wildcats without 6-foot-6 freshman forward Andreo Ash, who was averaging nearly 16 points per game yet had to miss this game with an injury.
WG was 6-0, having allowed less than 50 points to five of those opponents. Sparked by Maxwell Dennington, who had eight of his 11 points in the first quarter, the Wildcats went on an 11-3 run to close the first quarter and take control.
But while the Wildcats’ margin grew to 31-15 early in the second period, Liverpool did not go away, increasing its effort and adjusting its offense to chip away at that deficit.
Having closed the gap to 36-26 by halftime, the Warriors inched closer in the third quarter, its offense led by the duo of Jacob Works, who finished with 20 points, and Jah’Deuir Reese, who had 18 points.
When Works hit two free throws with 4:08 left, Liverpool pulled within three, 57-54, but it would get no closer, largely because WG senior Adam Dudzinski wouldn’t let it happen.
Dudzinski hit on the Wildcats’ first eight points of the fourth quarter to stem the Warriors’ comeback and, after Works cut it to 64-60, hit on another clutch 3-point shot with 2:13 to play to stretch the margin to seven.
All told, 11 of Dudzinski’s game-high 28 points came in the final period. Jack Dalgety finished with 12 points, just ahead of Dennington’s 11 points. Christian Cain got 10 points and Christian Amica had seven points.
Liverpool would look to bounce back in Friday’s game against Baldwinsville, but even with the Bees’ record, it proved nerve-wracking all the way to the wire as Works all but carried the Warriors past the Bees 51-47.
Unlike their Feb. 9 opener, a 69-45 Liverpool romp, this game was tight all the way through, tied 15-15 after one period and 29-29 at halftime.
Led by Ben Bifulco (13 points) and Willie Strong (12 points), the Bees stayed right with the Warriors until the final seconds when, up by two, Liverpool iced it when Works hit both ends of a one-and-one free throw.
So capped off a night where Works amassed 31 points and no other Warriors player reached double figures, with Bruce Wingate (seven points) and Jake Socker (six points) offering the most support.
As that went on, Cicero-North Syracuse, who gets another shot at Liverpool late this week in the season finale, improved its mark to 5-2 by handling Nottingham 75-48.
The Northstars jumped out 18-7 and reinforced that advantage by outscoring the Bulldogs 23-11 in the third quarter, nearly having five players score in double figures.
Brian Bonin and Luke Paragon led the way, each getting 18 points with Reece Congel stepping up to score 11 points. Noah Wieczorek earned 10 points and Kevin Felasco gained nine points.
Then, against reigning sectional Class AA champion Corcoran on Friday night, C-NS kept it going with a souped-up offense that overwhelmed the Cougars in an 89-72 decision.
Hitting on all kinds of shots early, the Northstars led 52-34 by halftime, forcing Corcoran to chase them the rest of the way as Paragon set a new career mark, pouring in 30 points.
Bonin matched Paragon in sinking three 3-pointers and finished with 21 points, while Wieczorek had 18 points. Felasco and Congel had nine points apiece as Corcoran’s Amir Reeves led his side with 27 points.
C-NS moved to 7-2 on Saturday by again defeating Nottingham, this time 78-47, helped mostly by a 43-21 domination of the second half as Bonin had 24 points, Felasco earned 15 points and Paragon finished with 14 points.
