CENTRAL NEW YORK – For the second time in as many months, the Liverpool girls basketball team got the best of its neighbors from Baldwinsville.
Yet the Warriors’ 56-46 victory at Baker High School Monday night hardly resembled the 57-34 it engineered over the Bees on its home court in January.
Back then, Liverpool held B’ville without a field goal in the first quarter and to just 10 points in the first half, a figure the Bees would surpass in the first quarter of the rematch.
Enough baskets fell for B’ville to keep it tight throughout the first half. By the time they went to the break, the Warriors were in front, but only by a single point, 25-24, with plenty of reason to think that Liverpool’s nine-game win streak was in some danger.
Then came the third quarter.
Combining its trademark pressure with conversions on the other end, mostly from A’briyah Cunningham, the Warriors outscored B’ville 15-6 in that frame, accounting for most of the final margin.
By the time she was done, Cunningham had poured in 24 points, with help from Kaylyn Sweeney’s nine points and Gianna Washington’s seven points.
B’ville’s Olivia Davis had a memorable night, hitting on a career-best six 3-pointers to account for most of her 20 points, while Madison Polky had nine points and Nela Loftin got eight points for the Bees.
Two nights later, Liverpool was in top form again, putting away Henninger 78-46 as Cunningham had her best game of the season so far, burning the Black Knights for 32 points.
This helped the Warriors build a 66-35 lead through three quarters, Cunningham supported by Angelina Kohler’s 10 points as Sweeney and Washington had seven points apiece and Sophie Sageer had all six of her points at the free-throw line.
To close out its regular season, Liverpool put away Jamesville-DeWitt 51-27 on Friday and moved to 19-1 with a ferocious defense that, with the game in doubt at halftime, proceeded to shut out the Red Rams fore the entire third quarter.
This, along with Gracie Sleeth hitting five 3-pointers and getting 23 points overall, helped Liverpool win its 12th in a row and again reinforce the point that any road to a sectional title in Class AAA went through them.
Cicero-North Syracuse was back in action Tuesday night, at Auburn, where it recovered from a Feb. 2 defeat to Buffalo’s Cardinal O’Hara by getting past the Maroons 51-43.
So much of what transpired in this game was dictated by a first quarter where, thanks to hot shooting, the Northstars bolted to a 20-8 advantage.
The lead allowed C-NS to endure a long mid-game drought and, thanks to solid defense, still be up 37-32 going to the fourth quarter, where it was able to pick up its production again.
Kat McRobbie-Taru again led the way, her 23 points mostly the result of five 3-pointers as she outscored Auburn’s top player, Peyton Maneri, who led her side with 20 points.
When C-NS had its own game against Henninger on Friday, it got pushed most of the way, but a big third quarter allowed the Northstars some room to breathe on the way to a 64-46 win over the Black Knights.
Already up 34-27 at the break, C-NS outscored Henninger 25-11 in that third period, and didn’t lean as much on McRobbie-Taru, though she did pick up 18 points.
Both Leah Benedict and Jilly Howell picked up 13 points, while Amanda Timmons earned nine points and Meadow Werts got eight points, C-NS moving to 13-6 overall with one regular-season game left next Friday against Christian Brothers Academy.
