ONONDAGA COUNTY – One of the inherent strengths of the Liverpool girls basketball team is its ability to, at any time in a game, string together a long and demoralizing scoring run.
Often it happens in the first half as a tone-setter. However, when the state Class AAA no. 7-ranked Warriors faced Fulton last Tuesday night, it was in the middle stages that Liverpool played best to handle the Red Dragons 65-28.
Hot early shooting created a 20-10 edge going to the second quarter, where any thoughts that Fulton might make the game interesting vanished when it managed just two points in that frame.
Then Liverpool made a 27-9 push through the third quarter as A’briyah Cunningham, with 15 points, led a deep and versatile attack. Gianna Washington and Giselle Cruz each had nine points, with Gracie Sleeth getting eight points as Kaylyn Sweeney and Angie Kohler got seven points apiece.
Cicero-North Syracuse, flush with momentum after an impressive Jan. 26 win over state-ranked Baldwinsville, kept it going last Tuesday when it defeated Jamesville-DeWitt 53-26.
Neither team started well, but the Northstars gradually picked up its production as the game went on, culminating in a second half where it outscored the Red Rams 34-12.
Amanda Timmons came off the bench and led C-NS with 12 points. Olivia Cook got 10 points, with Kat McRobbie-Taru earning nine points and Leah Benedict getting seven points.
In Friday’s action, C-NS handled Nottingham 62-32, only allowing a single free throw in the first quarter and then outscoring the Bulldogs 23-11 in the second period to pull further away.
Achieving near-perfect scoring balance, it was Meadow Werts leading the way with 11 points, but Benedict and Cook close behind with 10 points apiece. Howell had eight points, with Timmons getting seven points and McRobbie-Taru six points.
Continuing to face strong opposition, the Northstars would host Buffalo’s Cardinal O’Hara, no. 4 in the state AAA rankings, on Saturday afternoon and, while putting up a good challenge, still lost 67-55 to the Hawks.
Mostly, the first half is where O’Hara won it, limiting C-NS all the way until it trailed 31-16 at the break and forced the Northstars to chase the Hawks the rest of the way.
Benedict stood out for C-NS, pouring in 21 points. McRobbie-Taru managed 12 points, while Howell had nine points. Meadow Werts and Grace Villnave had five points apiece.
A trip to Auburn and a visit from Henninger awaits the Northstars next week as Liverpool makes a trip Monday to 14-4 Baldwinsville, a team it routed 57-34 early in January, before games at Henninger and J-D later in the week.
