Liverpool battles to wins over F-M, Nottingham

by Phil blackwell

Just because the Liverpool boys basketball team had emerged from its first clash with West Genesee possessing an overtime victory did not mean it was done with key SCAC Metro division tests.

In fact, some tough road games loomed, including last Friday’s visit to FayettevilleManlius, which took on an extra dimension because Andreo Ash, injured in practice, would miss this game. But the Warriors more than proved its resilience, withstanding everything the Hornets threw at them and winning 57-48 against an F-M side far improved from the one it handled at home in December. Jeff Manuel took Ash’s place in the starting lineup and, from the outset, worked hard in the paint, especially on defense, where he helped his teammates frustrate F-M for long stretches of the first half. Never trailing after the game’s opening minutes, the Warriors’ margin would remain steady throughout the first half and then stretch to 33-22 in the third quarter before a 7-0 run got F-M closer. Trevor Roe, held in check most of the way, led the Hornets’ rally, scoring seven of his 13 points in the fourth quarter as, twice, F-M pulled within three, including 50-47 with less than three minutes left. But the Warriors made several more key stops at the end, having seen Jah’Deuir Reese earn a gamehigh 16 points despite playing the fourth quarter with four fouls. Manuel, aside from his 12 points, had seven rebounds and two blocks, with Wingate also getting 12 points.

Before this, Liverpool hosted Nottingham last Tuesday night, and that game proved a battle, too, the Warriors heavily leaning on its defense to defeat the Bulldogs 57-46. Holding Nottingham to four points in the first quarter, Liverpool allowed itself time to get on track. Eventually bulding a 24-15 halftime margin that it mostly main- tained the rest of the way.

The offense leaned heavily on sh, who got 24 points, andReese, who got 16 points. Fred Fowler added eight points as the Warriors overcame 19 points from the Bulldogs’ Steyvon Jones.

Cicero-North Syracuse off its own defeat to Liverpool Jan. 10, had returned to winning form, continuing it last Monday afternoon with an 87-71 victory over Corcoran.

Steadily, the Northstars estabilshed a 43-29 edge by halftime. Corcoran played on relatively even terms the rest of the way but never really made C-NS stress too much.

The duo of Andrew Benedict and Reece Congel again stood out, Benedict striking for 25 points and Congel earning 24 points as Michael Pfautz (11 points) and Michael Gallo (10 points) also hit double figures. These same teams met again two night later, and once more the two sides played an action-packed contest that C-NS was able to win, this one by a score of 91-79. By far, the biggest story in this game was the rare feat pulled off by Benedict and Congel, who consistently found their way to the basket as the Northstars built up a 73-59 through three quarters. It marked the first time that C-NS teammates both topped the 30-point mark – Benedict with 31 points, Congel with 30 points. Gallo helped, too, equaling Benedict’s five 3-pointers and finishing with 19 points, all of it overcoming a 37-point effort from Corcoran’s Jaiden Holloman and 27 points from Amir Reaves.

But when C-NS took its turn against Nottingham on Friday, it dropped a 62-60 thriller to the Bulldogs, who avenged a 63-56 defeat to the Northstars in late December.

In a game close start to finish, Jones’ 33 points helped carry the Nottingham attack. In defeat, Benedict put up 22 points, but Congel was held to 10 points as Terrance Coppack got 13 points.