ONONDAGA COUNTY – Energy, intensity, high emotion – every one of these characteristics marks a boys basketball game between archrivals Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool.
Having nearly seen a fight break out late in their first regular-season encounter in January, the two sides got together again Saturday afternoon and, while it proved calmer, the energy and intensity remained.
Most importantly from C-NS’s standpoint, it maintained the upper hand it earned a month ago, its defense down the stretch a key factor in prevailing 53-48 to move its record to 18-1.
Having led most of the game, the Northstars led 46-37 early in the fourth quarter, largely a byproduct of hot 3-point shooting through the early part of the second half by Nate Francis and Sam Werts.
But Liverpool threatened to turn it around, going on a 12-0 run over a four-minute span which Danny Dunn capped with a 3-pointer that, with 3:10 to play, put the visitors up 48-46, its first lead since the opening minutes.
That lead only lasted 15 seconds – the amount of time it took C-NS to head down the court, find Francis in the corner and have him drill his third 3-pointer of the game.
Liverpool never scored another point, forced into bad shots by a tight Northstars defense which produced a series of empty possessions. Plus, since it only had one team foul, it had to foul several times before Werts hit the clinching free throws with 11 seconds to play.
Werts, with 14 points, and Francis with 15 points balanced well with Andrew Benedict, who had 16 points. Before the late drought, Liverpool got 14 points from Giancarlo Galimi, Freddy Fowler adding 12 points as Dunn got nine points and Alex Trombley eight points.
C-NS had back-to-back games early in the week – one lopsided, the other a genuine scare.
Hosting New Hartford Monday night the Northstars unloaded on the Spartans, especially in the second half of a 79-51 victory.
New Hartford caused some early worry and only trailed 36-29 at halftime, but C-NS doubled up the Spartans 24-12 in the third quarter to thwart any hopes of a comeback.
Held relatively in check in recent weeks, Benedict roared to form with 32 points, his second-best total of the season. Brennan Tyler set a career mark with 17 points mostly from five 3-pointers, while Francis managed 13 points and Miy’Jon McDowell Reed gained 10 points.
Given this result, the Northstars may have gone to Baldwinsville a night later with complacency and with an eye toward the Liverpool battle, especially since C-NS routed the Bees 89-52 when they met in mid-January.
If so, it nearly proved a massive error, the Northstars only able to correct it late and, in the final moments, pull out a 55-54 win.
Led by M.J. Young, the Bees made plenty of shots early to fire up the home crowd and led 18-12 through one quarter. Then it remained steady through the game’s middle stages, not allowing C-NS any kind of sustained run.
Still down 46-41 going to the fourth quarter, C-NS cranked up its defense, only allowing eight points the rest of the way and giving the offense a chance to produce just enough points to pull it out.
Francis had 15 points, with Benedict adding 13 points and Andrew Potter 12 points. Werts got seven points, far back of Young, whose 26 points led all scorers as Matt Pope added 12 points.
By contrast, Liverpool handled Corcoran that same night in a 72-54 decision, racing out to a 35-13 halftime lead through near-flawless defense and an attack heavily leaning on Trombley.
Hitting on 10 field goals, three of them 3-pointers, Trombley gained 26 points. Fowler earned nine points as Dunn got eight points. Three others Gallimi, Braylon Otis and Jayden Cromwell – finished with six points apiece.
As C-NS prepared for a Tuesday regular-season finale against Fayetteville-Manlius Liverpool would take its 13-6 record to Henninger on Monday before finding out what the Section III Class AAA playoff bracket would reveal.
