ONONDAGA COUNTY – Only on the evening of Dec. 11 did the Liverpool boys basketball team reveal itself to the public, knowing full well how other top Class AA contenders had already enjoyed three or more games.
The Warriors debuted at the Peppino’s Invitational at SRC Arena on Dec. 11 against Rochester East, and the trio of Andreo Ash, Bruce Wingate and Jacob Works would all make an impact in a 77-70 victory.
Both sides played at a frantic pace throughout the first half, which was what Liverpool desired. Holding a 42-38 advantage at halftime, the Warriors were able to withstand all of East’s attempts to catch up late.
Ash, the highly-touted sophomore forward, poured in 24 points, with Works close behind as he got 19 points and Wingate earned 17 points. Jah’Deuir Reese, with 11 points, made it four Liverpool players to score in double figures as Jaiden Reynolds had six points.
No doubt, Liverpool was aware of what Cicero-North Syracuse was doing. Already 2-0 going into its Dec. 10 game at Troy LaSalle, the Northstars kept it going, blowing away LaSalle 78-55.
Five players hit double figures, led by Luke Paragon, who had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds, plus five assists.
Andrew Benedict had 17 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Robbie Siechen had 14 points and nearly got a triple-double thanks to nine assists and eight rebounds. Reece Congel got 12 points, six rebounds and four steals, while Mike Gallo had 11 points and six rebounds.
When 3-0 Bishop Ludden visited last Tuesday night, the clash of undefeated teams was made even more special by the two teams combining to raise more than $2,000 for the OnMyTeam16 Challenge, which supports children fighting cancer.
C-NS was even happier after the game was done, having defeated the Gaelic Knights 63-52 with a combination of timely, suffocating defense and Paragon’s late-game surge.
They were tied 16-16 after one period, and Northstars head coach Kyle Martin was unhappy about how his team was playing defense, and let his squad know it.
All C-NS did in response was limit Ludden to one field goal in the second quarter, then continue to shut down the Gaelic Knights in the course of a 12-2 run that stretched deep into the third period.
And even when Ludden moved back within six, 53-47, with six minutes left, it coincided with Paragon taking charge.
All that the Northstars senior did was put up 10 consecutive points, capped by a rebound dunk with less than three minutes to play that all but sealed the outcome.
Of Paragon’s 26 points, 19 of them came in the second half as Benedict put up 16 points. Siechen gained nine points as Congel, after some early foul trouble, earned all eight of his points in the second half.
Ludden was led by freshman forward Chad Cook, who poured in29 points, but C-NS did an effective job containing sophomore sensation Jaiden Holloman, holding him to a season-low eight points.
