ONONDAGA COUNTY – When the Liverpool girls basketball team hosted Marcellus on Dec. 21, part of the fun of the occasions was to see if a third 1,000-point scorer would join the two already on hand.
A’briyah Cunningham started the game 39 points short of that milestone. To get to it she would need a career-best performance, all in front of the Mustangs’ star duo of Cece Powell and Tenly Baker who had already achieved that milestone.
As it turned out, Cunningham wouldn’t really threaten 1,000 – but she didn’t need to, either, since Liverpool was putting together yet another impressive victory by a 73-52 margin.
Every Liverpool opponent fears the scoring surge and, in this case, it came early, with the hosts bolting out 26-9 before the first quarter was done and forcing Marcellus into chase mode.
Cunningham would finish with 20 points but set a season mark grabbing 17 rebounds, adding five steals. Angie Kohler almost got her own double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds.
Topping them, Gianna Washington nearly registered a triple-double but did get 15 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, while Gia Kinsey managed 10 points. Marcellus produced just five field goals outside of Powell’s 23 points and Baker’s 17 points.
Two nights earlier when Liverpool faced Henninger, Cunningham proved that big numbers were within reach given what she produced in a 78-52 win over the Black Knights.
No matter what Henninger tried on defense it could not contain Cunningham, who hit on 16 field goals, including a 3-pointer, and did not let up until she had gained 36 points.
Much of it came in a wild second quarter. Trailing 13-10 and not happy about it, Liverpool forced a rash of Black Knights turnovers and converted them into easy baskets, the 35 points scored in that period a new program record.
Three players – Washington,Kinsey and Maura Woods – had eight points apiece, with Kohler gaining seven points and Gracie Sleeth adding six points.
In between these two games was Cicero-North Syracuse making its own kind of loud statement Dec. 20 at West Genesee, doing close to everything well in an 81-31 romp of the Wildcats.
Scoring baskets at will in the first half, the Northstars led 52-18 by intermission, ultimately placing four players in double figures led by Leah Benedict, who produced 21 points.
Jilly Howell manged 12 points, with Alexis Gasparini and Meadow Werts close behind notching 10 points apiece. What’s more, there was seven points from Kylah Bednar and six points apiece from Grace Villnave and Kylie Stockton.
