CENTRAL SQUARE – What the Liverpool girls basketball team possesses is the only thing Cicero-North Syracuse wants – namely, the top spot among the largest schools in the Section III ranks.
All of it hinges on Saturday’s championship game at Onondaga Community College Allyn Hall, arguably the biggest day in the long-standing athletic rivalry between the two schools given that the girls and boys basketball Warriors and Northstars would both battle each other for sectional Class AAA honors.
It was all set up, on the girls side, by Wednesday’s pair of sectional semifinals at Central Square. First, C-NS unleashed a sensational defensive performance to defeat Bishop Ludden 60-31, then Liverpool leaned on a mid-game surge to turn back the challenge of Baldwinsville and prevail 66-48.
C-NS, the no. 2 seed, was meeting a Ludden side it beat 51-43 late in December. The Gaelic Knights had gone 16-1 since, and entered this game with the firm belief that it possessed the game to knock off the Northstars.
Instead, this rematch belonged to the C-NS defense. From the middle of the first quarter to the late portion of the third quarter, the Gaelic Knights managed just one field goal and was outscored 35-4.
After Ludden hit a pair of outside shots in the opening minutes, the Northstars switched to man-to-man pressure and smothered anything Ludden tried while, at the same time, controlled the boards, never allowing offensive rebounds.
Head coach Rob Siechen said it was just a matter of his young team (it has just two seniors) learning defensive concepts and applying them – which it certainly did against Ludden.
Meanwhile, the offense was sparked by senior Kat McRobbie-Taru, who until the game’s final minutes was outscoring the Gaelic Knights all by herself, picking up 26 points with everything from drives to the basket to long 3-pointers, including one at the horn at the end of the opening period.
“Kat had to be the best player on the floor, and she was here,” said Siechen.
With a 22-0 run that spanned the second and third periods, C-NS assured itself a chance to get even with Liverpool, not just for last year’s sectional Class AA final, but the December game where it surrendered an early 22-point lead to the Warriors.
Baldwinsville, the no. 4 seed, did all it could to prevent this showdown, knowing that it had to do close to everything right to atone for two regular-season defeats to Liverpool.
Having not played in 19 days, the Warriors showed little rust in a fast-paced first quarter, but saw the Bees hit on four 3-pointers in that period and lead 18-17 at the end of the frame.
But even as it stayed close, controlled the boards and drew fouls, B’ville could not take full advantage, missing 10 of the 12 free throws it attempted in the first half when it had a chance to stay out in front.
And with the game even at 24-24, Liverpool took over, as it has done so many other times this season, scoring the last 12 points of the first half and then extending its run to 20-3 early in the third quarter.
A’briyah Cunnigham led the Warriors’ attack, netting 18 points in the first half and finishing with 23 points, but getting ample support from her fellow starters.
Angie Kohler produced throughout the night and finished with 16 points. Kaylyn Sweeney earned most of her 10 points in the fourth quarter to thwart B’ville’s late comeback as Gianna Washington got eight points and Gracie Sleeth six points.
