ONONDAGA COUNTY – While it remained the case that the Liverpool girls basketball team had the upper hand on Cicero-North Syracuse based on head-to-head results, it remained subject to change.
For when these two rivals gathered again at C-NS for the “Best Of New York” event on Jan. 18 and 19, it was the Northstars going 2-0 and Liverpool settling for a 1-1 split.
The difference was that C-NS was able to do what Liverpool could not – beat Section II’s Shenendehowa, which it did on the second day of the tournament with a sensational fourth-quarter comeback to prevail 64-59.
All looked grim in the first quarter when the cold-shooting Northstars fell behind 21-5. Despite vast improvement over the next two periods, Shen remained in control, taking a 48-36 advantage to the final frame.
Then it all changed.
Cranking up defensive pressure and turning it into baskets on the other end, C-NS went on a late-game tear, erasing the deficit, catching Shen and then moving out in front to stay.
Keying this 28-11 outburst was the duo of Grace Villnave and Leah Benedict, who hit a combined seven 3-pointers between them for the game as Villnave set a career mark with 21 points and Benedict got 14 points. Alexis Gasparini helped with eight points and Kylah Bednar added six points.
Liverpool had fallen to Shen 59-46 the day before largely because its top player, A’briyah Cunningham, was held to a season-low seven points while returning to action following an illness.
To its credit, LHS would recover against Buffalo’s Cardinal O’Hara less than 24 hours later, getting off to the start it wanted and then answering everything the rest of the way to beat the Hawks 55-46.
Hot early shooting keyed a 21-12 advantage through one period, one that Liverpool would mostly maintain through the game’s middle stages even though it only scored 18 total points in the second and third periods.
Finding her game rhythm again, Cunningham managed 15 points and the attack remained well-balanced behind her. Gia Kinsey managed 13 points, with Gianna Washington getting 11 points and Angie Kohler putting in nine points.
Having fallen to no. 14 in the state Class AAA rankings after the Shen defeat behind C-NS at no. 11, Liverpool got back on the court Friday night against West Genesee and roaring past the Wildcats 69-37.
With WG missing its top scorer, Bella Quinones, Liverpool shut down the Wildcats throughout the first half and did not let up until it had established a 42-12 advantage that kept growing in the third quarter, too.
Cunningham worked her way to 20 points followed closely by Kinsey earning 18 points as Washington (11 points) also hit double figures. Brynlee Elkins paced the Wildcats with 11 points.
As this went on, C-NS was just as dominant taking out Fayetteville-Manlius 72-28, peaking in the third quarter when it held the Hornets to a single free throw after it already had a 36-19 halftime advantage.
Benedict kept getting open and kept making outside shots, ultimately converting seven 3-pointers on her way to a season-best 27 points. Villnave earned 12 points, with Gasparini contributing nine points.
Liverpool meets Henninger in its only game this week before a closing stretch that includes C-NS after back-to-back games against Baldwinsville, while the Northstars have its own game against West Genesee that same Wednesday night.
