SYRACUSE – Gathering his Liverpool girls basketball players in a huddle in the aftermath of the Warriors’ 56-51 victory over Albany High in Saturday’s Class AA regional final at SRC Arena, coach Mike Wheeler let out an exuberant yell.

“We’re going to the big dance!,” he said, and the Warriors’ players screamed in delight, for good reason.

With a 16-year Section III championship drought behind them, Liverpool had now earned its first trip to the state final four since 1988 and still alive with a chance to earn the program’s first-ever state title.

And it was truly earned against an Albany side it trailed for most of the regional final before a combination of timely baskets and fierce team defense down the stretch subdued the Falcons.

A fourth quarter that had already seen a handful of lead changes had one more when Jakeira Stackhouse hit a putback basket, was fouled and made the ensuing free throw with exactly two minutes left.

Kaylyn Sweeney then hit a driving layup with 1:23 to play to make it 52-49. Albany cut it to one in the final minute, but Sweeney, with 22.7 seconds left, hit on a pair of free throws.

Still needing to make one more stop, the Warriors had both Sweeney and Neveah Wingate block potential tying 3-pointers before A’briyah Cunningham made a steal and hit a clinching lay-up as time ran out.

These teams had met Dec. 27 at a tournament in Amsterdam. Albany won that game, 79-63, but it was a game scheduled at the last minute after Liverpool’s scheduled trip to Orlando got cancelled.

Now with time to prepare and much higher stakes, the Warriors went after a Falcons side that was hungry, too, having lost to Cicero-North Syracuse in this same regional round in 2022.

Albany wanted to push the pace as much as possible. That led to a frantic first half where baskets were mixed in with all kinds of rushed shots, missed rebounds and turnovers.

Up 13-12 after one quarter, Liverpool saw Albany appear to take charge early in the second, eventually building a 28-19 margin on the strength of Shonyae Edmonds’ 15 points.

However, the Warriors held the Falcons without a field goal (going 0-for-10) for the last three-plus minutes of the half, fighting back to only have a modest 29-26 halftime deficit despite having committed 11 turnovers.

With Liverpool’s 1-3-1 defense settling in, the focus in the locker room, said Wingate, was not playing selfishly on offense and trusting each other – an idea that worked out quite well.

The intensity only increased in the third quarter, where the Warriors increasingly leaned on Wingate, who netted nine points. When Cunningham hit on a coast-to-coast basket early in the final period, Liverpool took a 42-41 advantage.

And it would go back and forth from there until the closing minutes. Between Wingate’s all-around excellence, Sweeney’s poise at the foul line, Stackhouse protecting the paint and Cunningham again providing a spark off the bench, Liverpool benefited from each of its key players late.

Wingate finished with 18 points, with Cunningham adding 11 points, Stackhouse earning 10 points and Sweeney getting most of her nine points in those late stages.

Next Friday at 8 p.m. at Hudson Valley Community College, Liverpool meets Section I’s White Plains in the state semifinal, the winner going to Saturday night’s title game at 8:45 p.m.

The best thing about it, said Wheeler, was that “we get another week of practice.”