CENTRAL NEW YORK – Is this the year that the Liverpool boys basketball team cedes its place atop the area large-school ranks, and does Cicero-North Syracuse seize it from them?
Both the Warriors and Northstars were moved to Class AAA this winter after Liverpool took the last two sectional Class AA crowns and reached the state final four in 2023.
Having seen its three top players depart – Andreo Ash and Bruce Wingate to prep schools, Jah’Deuir Reese to graduation – Liverpool and head coach Ryan Blackwell had to almost start over.
And it just so happened that West Genesee, the team the Warriors beat in each of the last two sectional Class AA finals, would serve as a season-opening opponent during last Friday’s Peppino’s Invitational at Jamesville-DeWitt.
Yet just like it did the previous five times it faced them, Liverpool got the best of the Wildcats, making its key surge late in the third quarter to earn a 57-49 victory.
Neither side produced much in a close, low-scoring first half that ended 20-20. And Liverpool still had a small 30-28 edge when, late in the third quarter, WG standout Gary McLane picked up his fourth foul.
Taking full advantage of McLean’s absence, the Warriors closed the quarter on a 10-3 run, capped by reserve Alex Trombley banking in a half-court shot as the buzzer sounded.
Eventually, the Warriors built a 49-38 margin and WG never got closer than six points again, the attack now led by Kaelem Haskins, who poured in 20 points, and Jeff Manuel, who earned eight of his 16 points in the fourth quarter.
Trombley, with a trio of 3-pointers, joined Freddie Fowler in gaining nine points apiece. McLane, despite his foul trouble, still led all scorers with 21 points.
C-NS was in the Peppino’s event, too, taking on a Christian Brothers Academy side Saturday night on the Brothers’ home court with a handful of CBA players still busy with football and preparing for the state Class AA title game against Carmel at the JMA Dome less than 24 hours later.
Whatever the factors, the Northstars, from the opening minutes of the game, controlled the tempo and also played strong defense on the other end, not letting up until it had routed the Brothers 74-43.
Rosco Polos stepped up in a big way, his 16 points complementing the 17 points apiece put up by Andrew Benedict and Nate Francis. Andrew Potter earned seven points, with Michael Pfautz adding six points.
Before this, C-NS opened at Ithaca and took apart the Little Red 90-37, doing so while Francis had an impressive season debut.
A 30-14 first quarter set the tone and the Northstars outscored Ithaca 19-0 in the fourth quarter, Francis eventually picking up 25 points, nearly half of it from four 3-pointers.
That complemented the 25 points put up by Benedict as 11 different players got at least one field goal, Pfautz and Landon Rumble earning eight points apiece and Polos adding seven points.
C-NS has its only game this week against East Syracuse Minoa at the Junior High School, while Liverpool hosts Nottingham and then meets CBA and Hilton as it hosts the Zebra Classic this weekend.
