CICERO – Whether the Liverpool girls basketball team noticed that its rivals from Cicero-North Syracuse were eight spots above them in the state Class AA rankings, despite twice as many defeats and a head-to-head loss to the Warriors, was not really important.
What was quite important, though, was the statement the Warriors made on the court Tuesday night at C-NS, shutting down a majority of the Northstars’ lineup and prevailing 55-37 to complete a regular-season sweep and return to first place in the SCAC Metro division.
A week earlier, Liverpool had lost at home to Henninger, its first league defeat. That may have damaged the larger perception of the Warriors because it fell back to no. 18 in the state AA poll as C-NS, with three lopsided wins in a row, climbed to the no. 10 spot.
Still, the Northstars, to get to the top of the standings, had to figure out Liverpool, something it didn’t do early in their Jan. 7 meeting, falling behind as much as 20 and seeing its frantic comeback fall just short.
From that 70-63 result, though, the Warriors took a different lesson, one that would get applied here – from a defensive standpoint, don’t ever ease up on the pressure.
This allowed Liverpool to weather a quiet first quarter that ended 5-5 as only Neveah Wingate and Kat McRobbie scored points for either team. And when Grace Sleeth hit on consecutive 3-pointers, the Warriors took charge.
Of course, the bigger story was on the other end. With a mix of formations and plenty of improvisation, Liverpool made it difficult for any Northstars player who had the ball or, when they didn’t have possession, try to get themselves open.
As a result, there was a six-minute scoring drought in the first half and then, bridging the second and third quarters, a span of 11-plus minutes without a field goal.
What’s more, no one other than McRobbie got a field goal until Olivia Cook converted late in the third period, C-NS only finding any kind of offensive rhythm when the game was settled in the closing minutes.
Meanwhile, Wingate led the getaway, netting 11 of her 22 points in the third quarter, with help from A’briyah Cunningham, who had eight points, and Kaylyn Sweeney, who had seven points. McRobbie finished with 14 points and Cook added eight points.
As if this wasn’t impressive enough, Liverpool went out and, 24 hours later, ripped Baldwinsville 73-36, putting up lots of offense early and then clamping down, outscoring the Bees 31-7 in the second half.
Wingate had one of her best games of the season, her 32 points nearly equaling the entire B’ville roster. Cunningham got 13 points and Gianna Washington had 10 points. Jakeira Stackhouse and Angeliena Kohler had six points apiece.
And when the Warriors defeated West Genesee 68-23 Friday on Senior Night, it gave head coach Mike Wheeler 500 combined victories, counting his long and successful tenure at Onondaga Community College.
All 11 players got on the scoreboard for Liverpool as Kohler led with 12 points and Joelle Wike had her best game of the season, pouring in 10 points. Janea Hamilton-Brown got nine points and Wingate had seven points.
C-NS, meanwhile, turned back Henninger 53-40 in a game that was tight throughout the first half but turned in the third quarter, the Northstars outscoring the Black Knights 18-7 to seize control.
McRobbie and Maddie Howell both finished with 13 points, while Brianna Weaver stepped up and got 10 points. Jilly Howell added seven points.
