TROY – This time around, when the Liverpool girls went east to Troy’s Hudson Valley Community College, it wanted to bring home something more than memories.
And a first-ever state championship for the program was within the Warriors’ grasp until, in Sunday morning’s Class AAA championship game, Pougkeepsie’s Our Lady of Lourdes proved too strong and too skillful, claiming the title by a score of 69-54.
Just to get this chance, Liverpool met up with Section VI champion Lancaster in the state semifinal a day earlier and unleashed its full skill set, especially on the defensive side, to roll to a 77-38 victory over the Legends.
What mostly accounted for this total domination was the way the Warriors, with its trademark 1-3-1 pressure, smothered everyone on Lancaster outside of Madison Francis,,a 6-foot-1 junior who was already that program’s all-time leading scorer and had an offer from Syracuse, with Orange coach Felisha Legette-Jack in Troy to scout her.
Francis did all she could, managing 27 points and 18 rebounds. But the rest of the Legends were held to a combined five-for-23 from the field and committed 29 turnovers in the face of Liverpool’s relentless pressure.
Start to finish, it was all Warriors, who bolted out of the gate 9-4 in the first two-plus minutes, forcing a timeout, increased the margin to 18-9 by the end of the first quarter, and just kept going.
Liverpool netted the first eight points of the second quarter and then went on a 12-3 run to close the half and make it 39-17 at the break, forcing a total of 19 turnovers in just 16 minutes of game action.
Kaylyn Sweeney set the tone on offense with a 3-pointer in the opening seconds of the game and, in the first half, finished with 15 points, taking pressure off A’briyah Cunnningham, who still managed 12 points.
Not letting up in any way, Liverpool dominated the second half, too, as Sweeney worked her total to a season-best 22 points, adding seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Cunningham nearly ended up equaling Francis, finishing with 26 points and six rebounds.
In all its previous state final four trips, the Warriors had never reached the title game. Now it was there, facing a legendary program (Lourdes) trying to reclaim a past glory that included 10 state titles, but none since 2004.
What was immediately apparent was that Lourdes would not get shut down. It reached 17 points (which is all Liverpool allowed to Lancaster in the first half) before the game was six minutes old.
The torrid pace set by Lourdes almost left the Warriors behind, but it recovered enough, with six straight points from Angie Kohler, to pull within 22-18 by the end of the first quarter.
Yet no one other than Cunningham scored in the second period and Lourdes closed on a 6-0 run to take a 34-24 lead to halftime, having got 14 points from Bianka Velovic and 12 points from Simone Pelish, who both were producing in the paint once Lourdes broke through the 1-3-1 and got to the basket.
Despite all of Liverpool’s attempts to turn it around, Lourdes kept getting those inside baskets in the third quarter, going on a 9-0 run to stretch its margin to 45-26 and, when Pelish got her third foul, leaning on guard Jackie Kozakiewicz to hit key outside shots and put the game out of reach.
Outscored 22-8 in the third, Liverpool could not overcome that Lourdes surge, though Cunningham put up 22 points and eight rebounds, and Kohler finished with 12 points. Gracie Sleeth had eight points, but Sweeney, after her great work in the semifinal, was shut out until the fourth quarter.
Pelish worked her total to 33 points, adding nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, with ample help from Velovic’s 20 points and nine rebounds and Kozakiewicz getting 16 points.
So the most successful season in Liverpool girls basketball history concluded at 23-2, and though Sweeney. Sophie Sageer and Giselle Cruz graduate, the expected return of Cunningham, Washington, Kohler and Sleeth will make the Warriors a favorite to make a similar run next winter.
