LIVERPOOL – At least for this season, the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse basketball teams decided to hold varsity doubleheaders for their regular-season confrontations.
And in the first of them Tuesday night, each school emerged with a victory, the C-NS girls leaning heavily on its defense to prevail 50-43 before the Liverpool boys, getting a career-best 32 points from Jacob Works, broke open a close contest in the fourth quarter to win 75-56.
Going first, the girls game had plenty of its own intrigue. Liverpool was seeking its first win over C-NS since 2017, the Warriors sporting a 4-2 record as the Northstars were 3-1 in December.
Naveah Wingate pushed Liverpool in front early, netting eight first-quarter points to equal Northstars counterpart Alexa Kulakowski. And the Warriors’ margin grew in the second period, Kaylyn Sweeney’s 3-pointer making it 27-20 with 2:45 left in the half.
And that was Liverpool’s last field goal until the fourth quarter.
More than 12 minutes of game time would pass in between shots made from the field on Liverpool’s side, the Warriors hurt both by a swarming C-NS defense and Wingate getting into foul trouble.
Meanwhile, the Northstars closed the gap to 27-26 by halftime and dominated the third period, eventually putting together an 18-2 run, anchored by Brayden Schultz’s six points.
Liverpool finally broke its drought early in the fourth quarter and pulled back within six, 45-39, before Wingate, who had a game-high 14 points, fouled out with 1:59 left.
Despite the fact that Kulakowski was kept off the board in the last two periods, C-NS still won as Alita Carey-Santagelo led with 13 points, Schultz scored all 10 of her points in the second half and Sydney Nesci added eight points.
Then it was the boys game between the 6-3 Northstars, who returned Jerrod Hills to its starting lineup, and the Warriors, who were 4-1 but had not played in two weeks since a Dec. 19 win over Nottingham.
Right from the outset, Works flourished against the C-NS defense, hitting on a variety of shots capped by a long, high-arcing 3-pointer at the first-quarter horn. Liverpool led 15-9, and Works had 11 of those points.
Yet even though Works had 20 points by halftime, C-NS had battled back, sparked by Reece Congel (13 first-half points) and Andrew Benedict (eight points in the second quarter), and even took a brief lead late in the second period.
But the Warriors quickly went back in front and kept it through a tense third quarter, only to take full command when the Northstars’ leading scorer, Luke Paragon, went too far with his enthusiasm.
Less than a minute into the final period, Paragon, who had 14 points, converted a dunk that cut Liverpool’s lead to 54-51, but drew a technical foul. Works sank the ensuing free throws and, by doing so, sparked a closing 21-5 Warriors run.
It was Bruce Wingate largely responsible for the getaway, burning C-NS for 15 of his 17 points in the second half as Works finished his night with 32 points and Andreo Ash added 12 points.
Liverpool and C-NS will once again have a girls/boys twin bill on Feb. 1, starting at 5 p.m.
