ONONDAGA COUNTY – More than 10 months ago, the West Genesee boys basketball team left the court at SRC Arena as, not far away, Liverpool celebrated its late-game comeback and the Section III Class AA championship.
That bitter memory had carried the Wildcats through the entire off-season as it patiently waited for its first opportunity to get back at the Warriors.
It arrived Friday night, the two sides having again established themselves the local Class AA favorites with just one loss apiece and unbeaten in the SCAC Metro division.
And 32 minutes of regulation did not decide matters. It took overtime, and the dominance of Liverpool forward Andreo Ash, to hand the Wildcats a 64-55 defeat.
For three quarters Ash, the Warriors’ highly-touted 6-foot-7 junior forward, found himself negated by a tough Wildcats defense.
Initially, it didn’t hurt Liverpool, who used a 10-0 run in the opening minutes to take a lead it would hold most of the game after WG scored the game’s first four points.
Bruce Wingate more than made up for any struggles from his teammates, pouring in 16 of his 19 points in the first half as Liverpool stretched its margin to double digits and, capped by a Wingate 3-pointer, took a 35-26 advantage to the break.
Yet even though many of WG’s starters found themselves in foul trouble, the swarming team defense that has become a trademark helped it chip away at that margin throughout the third quarter and the early part of the final period.
When Jordan Cain hit a driving lay-up with 4:10 left, the Wildcats inched in front, 47-46, but it came as Ash began to assert himself.
Scoring all eight of his team’s points in the fourth quarter, Ash pushed his team back in front, a pair of free throws with 1:14 left making it 51-49 before Cain answered with a short jumper with 40 seconds to play.
The waning seconds of regulation saw WG swarm the ball and force a turnover, only to have Liverpool do the same to prevent an open shot as the clock hit zero.
Overtime belonged to Ash. He converted on a dunk, hit two more baskets and then did a full-court drive and layup that helped the Warriors put together a decisive 12-2 run.
All told, 16 of Ash’s 21 points came in the fourth quarter and OT. Christian Cain led WG with 19 points, Jordan Cain adding 12 points and Christian Amica 10 points before fouling out, knowing the Wildcats will have a rematch with Liverpool Feb. 10 in Camillus.
Both sides had made it through tough tests last Tuesday night right before meeting each other – Liverpool by topping Cicero-North Syracuse, WG by fighting past Fayetteville-Manlius 50-45.
F-M had won four in a row. More importantly, it remembered its own heartbreaking, season-ending, last-second defeat to the Wildcats at SRC Arena, only it had taken place in last winter’s sectional semifinals.
Through a low-scoring first half, neither side surrendered much. The pace picked up in the third quarter a bit, and F-M only trailed by one, 31-30, with one period left.
WG held on, in large part, due to free throws from Christian Cain, who finished with 16 points as Jordan Cain got 15 points. That helped to negate the 27 points and 15 rebounds from F-M standout Trevor Roe.
