CENTRAL NEW YORK – For the second time this winter the Liverpool boys basketball team found itself at a bit of a crossroads.
A narrow 57-55 defeat to archrival Cicero-North Syracuse on Jan. 17 was tough to take, but it would not hurt as much if Liverpool could follow it up with a strong week of games.
Instead, when it hosted Section IV’s Binghamton last Monday afternoon, Liverpool lost yet another close decision, falling to the Patriots by a score of 61-58.
All game long it was tight. Liverpool had the early lead, but saw it get away as Binghamton inched in front 29-28 going into halftime.
They went back and forth the rest of the way, the Patriots answering every Liverpool charge. In defeat, Alex Trombley led with 18 points, Giancarlo Gallimi adding 13 points and Freddy Fowler getting 11 points. Jayden Cromwell contributed six points.
With no time to rest, Liverpool had to travel a night later to face a Fayetteville-Manlius side sporting an 8-2 record and a defense which only allowed more than 60 points once in those 10 games.
All of these statistics meant little, though, to a desperate side bent on finding its form again – which Liverpool did, right away, and never let go of it until it had put away the Hornets 66-40.
Jumping out 18-9 in the first quarter helped in a big way, but Liverpool did not let up, constantly finding spaces to work with and knocking down plenty of shots while its defense only let one F-M player, Charlie Schroder (10 points), score in double figures.
Freddy Fowler led with 17 points, but it was Sean Frawley breaking through earning 13 points which offered the compliment to Trombley’s 11 points as Danny Dunn and Denis Kuzma had six points apiece.
C-NS, as it turned out, would get its own turn against F-M on Thursday night, and after the jolt of an early time-out proceeded to outclass the Hornets on the way to a 66-48 victory to improve its record to 10-1.
Not even a minute had passed when F-M had grabbed a 4-0 lead and the Northstars called time-out. Regrouping, C-NS outscored the Hornets 20-8 the rest of the first quarter and led 36-25 by halftime.
A 19-9 third-quarter push settled matters as Miy’Jon McDowell led the Northstars in scoring for the first time this winter, pouring in 20 points that included a trio of 3-pointers.
Andrew Benedict was right behind McDowell, earning 19 points as Sam Werts hit four 3-pointers for most of his 14 points and Nate Francis contributed 13 points.
Friday night brought Liverpool to Henninger where it went through a prolonged mid-game slump but still regrouped late to go back in front and beat the Black Knights 50-41.
Slowing down the game’s tempo, Henninger tracked right with Liverpool, especially in the second and third quarters when the visitors managed just 15 total points.
Entering the final period trailing 28-27, Liverpool finally solved the Black Knights’ defensive riddle and took the lead for good. Trombley’s 20 points included four 3-pointers as Fowler gained 16 points and Dunn finished with 11 points.
C-NS is busy this week with home games against West Genesee, Auburn and Utica Proctor, while Liverpool has its own game Friday against WG after hosting Baldwinsville earlier in the week.
