SYRACUSE – It had to arrive at this point.
Once again the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball teams will battle it out with the Section III Class AAA championship on the line, meeting this Sunday at 5 p.m. at SRC ARena.
Not only were they the top two seeds, they were also a good distance better than anyone who tried to challenge them, as the sectional semifinals Wednesday night at Nottingham High School proved.
Going first, C-NS didn’t allow a point to no. 3 seed Baldwinsville until the second quarter of a 49-33 victory. Then when it was Liverpool’s turn it brushed aside no. 5 seed Bishop Ludden in a 61-32 romp.
Two regular-season meetings between the Northstars and Bees meant there was plenty of familiarity. Both of those times B’ville was quite competitive, even though C-NS won them by 59-50 and 56-45 margins.
Above all the Northstars knew it had to keep the Bees from getting open for 3-pointers. And it did a whole lot more than this at the outset of their semifinal clash.
For the entire first period B’ville was kept off the board by a stifling C-NS defense which didn’t allow room for open shots and constantly forced turnovers.
Unable to get open outside shots of its own, the Northstars went inside and found success, building a 12-0 margin and, even when the Bees’ drought ended, it remained steady and took a 24-8 lead to halftime.
From here anything B’ville produced was quickly answered, C-NS mostly leaning on sophomore guard Leah Benedict, who finished with 24 points. Jilly Howell added eight points as Grace Villnave and Meadow Werts had six points apiece.
Now the Northstars sat back and watched Liverpool go to work against Ludden, the first time the Warriors had played a game since dropping its regular-season finale at C-NS back on Feb. 15.
Intense practices and a couple of scrimmages filled the 18-day gap between games, and when Liverpool got underway it showed little rust, able to convert baskets to grab a quick lead on the Gaelic Knights.
But the real getaway came in the middle stages. The Warriors’ trademark 1-3-1 zone took away almost everything Ludden tried, especially when it held the Gaelic Knights to just two points in the second quarter.
Then a 22-10 sprint through the third period decided matters, Liverpool’s other starters making Ludden pay for all the attention it gave to A’briyah Cunningham, whom it held to eight points.
Gracie Sleeth led the charge with 18 points. Gia Kinsey, back from the injury which sidelined her in the loss to C-NS, hit a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 11 points as Gianna Washington added 10 points and Angie Kohler had six points.
