ONONDAGA COUNTY – The last time the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball teams were on the same floor, it was at SRC Arena and the Warriors were celebrating as it had succeeded the Northstars as Section III Class AA champions.
Now they are together again, playing Tuesday night amid a busy opening stretch for the Warriors, who were playing its third game in four days counting its weekend clashes with Horseheads and Hilton in the Zebra Classic, both of them won by slim margins in the final seconds.
Both played last Tuesday night – and both won big, Liverpool bashing Nottingham 62-21 and C-NS doing the same to East Syracuse Minoa 65-31.
All that the Warriors did against a Nottingham side back at the top level after not fielding a varsity team in 2022-23 was jump out 21-1 in the first quarter and keep building from there.
By herself, A’briyah Cunningham outscored the Bulldogs, earning a total of 23 points. Maura Woods helped out with 10 points, while Giselle Cruz had eight points and Gracie Sleeth got six points.
It was on this same night that C-NS got its season underway, venturing to ESM and overwhelming the Spartans, especially in the middle stages.
Already with a 15-8 advantage, all that the Northstars did in the second and third quarters was outscore the Spartans 36-9, all while spreading its production around.
Kat McRobbie-Taru led C-NS with 16 points, but Leah Benedict and Olivia Cook were close behind, each netting 11 points, while sophomore Meadow Werts had eight points in her varsity debut and Jilly Howell added six points.
The first half of the Zebra Classic for Liverpool proved a thriller as it edged Horseheads 58-57.
Trailing 30-25 at halftime as the visitors hit on seven 3-pointers, the Warriors outscored the Blue Rangers 25-17 in a wild third quarter to go out in front, only to see Horseheads make its way back down the stretch and, with a late 3-pointer, take a 57-56 lead.
Liverpool worked the clock down until it got a shot, which missed. However, Cunningham grabbed the rebound and, with seven seconds to play, notched the go-ahead basket that the Blue Raiders could not answer.
Cunningham led with 17 points and Kaylyn Sweeney got 10 points, with Sleeth and Angelina Kohler each getting nine points and Sophie Sageer managing eight points.
What happened a day later against Section V’s Hilton reinforced Liverpool’s confidence in pulling out a tense contest as it edged the Cadets 55-53.
Somehow, Liverpool stayed within range and only trailed 20-18 at halftime despite Hilton shutting out Cunningham, who picked up three fouls. All through the last two quarters, though, Cunningham was able to stay in the game – and turned it around.
With 17 second-half points, Cunningham accounted for nearly half the Warriors’ production in that span. Sleeth and Gianna Washington each had a pair of 3-pointers, Washignton earning 14 points overall and Sleeth adding 11 points.
