ONONDAGA COUNTY – Once the Liverpool girls basketball team got the upper hand on rival Cicero-North Syracuse in their first head-to-head clash on Jan. 9, both sides would face busy, crowded slates inside and outside of league play.
On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Liverpool was at home to face Bishop Ludden, a game scheduled when both teams saw December trips get canceled – the Warriors to the Disney complex in Florida, the Gaelic Knights to Long Island.
In the first of two meetings between these contenders in as many weeks, the Warriors took command with its defense and, aided by poor shooting on Ludden’s part, rolled to a 58-35 victory.
A long stretch bridging the first and second quarters saw Liverpool put together a 24-2 run, its defensive pressure both forcing turnovers and frustrating Ludden’s all-time leading scorer, Amarah Streiff.
Ultimately, Streiff had just 10 points, barely half what Neveah Wingate got as she had 18 points and A’Briyah Cunningham finished with 14 points. Grace Sleeth got 10 points.
In C-NS’s case, it meant hosting the “Best of New York” Tournament on Jan. 14 and 15, ultimately splitting those pair of games, starting with a 60-38 victory over Section VI’s Lancaster.
The Northstars built a 25-16 halftime lead and then outscored the Legends 24-7 in the third quarter to get clear, Kathleen Taru leading with 17 points and Maddy Howell adding 16 points.
Turning around less than 24 hours later, C-NS met Section II power Shenendehowa and, despite leading most of the way, was unable to hang on in a 67-63 loss to the Plainsmen.
Strong on both ends in the first half, the Northstars steadily built a 31-22 advantage, only to see Shen solve C-NS’s defense in a high-scoring third quarter and make up most of the ground.
Then the Plainsmen went in front in the final period, led by Brianna Carey, who had 23 of her 31 points in the second half, that late haul equaling Taru’s 23-point effort. Howell remained steady with 17 points, Grace Villnave adding eight points.
The divergent paths of the rivals continued Friday night, Liverpool routing Fayetteville-Manlius 56-20 as C-NS, facing Section V’s Webster Schroeder, lost by a score of 73-60.
The Warriors limited the Hornets to just six points in the first half and spread its production around, too, no one getting more than Jakeira Stackhouse’s total of 11 points as Gianna Washington got nine points, with Cunningham and Janea Hamilton-Brown earning eight points apiece.
Not far away, C-NS and Webster Schroeder played at a ferocious pace in the first half, the Northstars only trailing 45-40 at the break before Schroeder got away, this despite 20 points from Maddy Howell and 17 points from Taru. Brianna Weaver added nine points.
