SYRACUSE – Right down to the opposition, the path the Liverpool girls basketball team would have to take to reach this year’s state Class AAA final four mirrored what it already accomplished a year ago.
First it knocked off archrival Cicero-North Syracuse in the Section III final. Then it returned to SRC Arena Saturday and had to defeat Section II champion Colonie in a hard-fought regional final.
And the rematch with Colonie would spill into overtime before the senior tandem of Gianna Washington and A’briyah Cunningham pushed the Warriors past the Wolf Pack 73-65.
Between them, Washington and Cunningham had seven points in the last 90 seconds of OT which finally allowed Liverpool to break clear of a Colonie side who could not quite avenge its 54-47 defeat to the Warriors 12 months earlier.
“These players don’t ever stop, and they don’t quit,” said Liverpool coach Mike Wheeler.
Deadlocked at 64-64, it was Washington whose driving layup gave Liverpool the lead for good. Even bigger was Cunningham flying in for a rebound basket on the Warriors’ next possession with less than a minute left.
From there Washington, Cunningham and eighth-grader Gia Kinsey hit on five of six free throws, stretching out the final margin after neither team had a lead of that size all game long.
Cunningham, limited to six points and a handful of minutes against C-NS in the sectional title game due to an injured hamstring, saw more action here, making her first impact in the waning seconds of the first quarter where, in a single motion, she executed a steal, converted a layup, was fouled and sank the ensuing free throw
Another steal and basket by Cunningham put Liverpool in front 19-17 early in the second period, and it went back and forth the rest of the half until Liverpool, with a 9-2 spurt, took a 33-29 advantage to halftime.
Kinsey had 11 first-half points including a trio of 3-pointers and again hit early in the third period to make it 36-29, the largest lead either team would have in regulation as again Colonie battled back and caught up.
Clinging to a 49-48 edge going to the fourth quarter, the Warriors would again heavily lean on defensive pressure, holding Colonie without a field goal for more than four minutes.
Washington said that throughout the game Liverpool switched from 2-3 to 1-3-1 zone looks. “They didn’t really know what we were going to do,” she said.
Having leaned on outside shooting all game, Colonie hit two more of them in the homestretch of regulation. A 3-pointer by Aliyah Pearson put the Wolf Pack up 56-55 and, after a Gracie Sleeth basket, Gianna Lake converted from beyond the line with 1:22 to play, and Colonie had a 59-57 advantage.
Fouled with 29.5 seconds to play in regulation, Washington hit both free throws to tie it 59-59, and after a defensive stop, got the ball with 3.3 seconds left at midcourt, but Washington missed on a possible game-winning layup attempt, forcing OT.
The back-and-forth battle continued until Liverpool leaned on its veteran players on both ends, whether it was Washington and Cunningham or it was Sleeth and Angie Kohler on the defensive side.
With her OT production Washington ran her total to a season-high 22 points, closely followed by Kinsey and her 21 points. Cunningham finished with 11 points.
Now they all go back to Troy’s Hudson Valley Community College and the state final four for the third year in a row, meeting Brentwood or Syosset Saturday at 1:30 in the state AAA semifinal, the winner to go to Sunday’s title game at 11:45 a.m. against Lancaster or Albertus Magnus.
“I like our team’s chances,” said Wheeler. “They know what it takes to win big games. I’ll put these players against anybody”.
Washington agreed. “We’re hungry for it (a state championship),” she said. “We want nothing more than to finish the job.”