Liverpool defends section crown with win over West Genesee in Section III Class AA championship

Syracuse, N.Y. — Liverpool’s dynamic duo of Andreo Ash and Bruce Wingate led the Warriors to their second-straight Section III Class AA championship with a 66-53 win on Sunday at SRC Arena.

The pair scored 19 points apiece to pace the Warriors in this one.

The win marked the third time Liverpool beat the Wildcats this season. The first two meetings ended in overtime, this time Liverpool dominated in regulation.

“I think our energy was the difference from the jump,” Ash said. “We had energy from people playing to people on the bench.”

“I think we went back and watched film,” Liverpool coach Ryan Blackwell said. “We knew that the first game at our place, we had it in hand. We were up 10 like we were tonight and they pressed us a little bit. We turned the ball over, let them back in the game, took the foot off the gas and we knew that they were going to come at us and press us a little bit and we stuck with it.”

The Warriors did not let up at all in this one. Liverpool came out firing from the start. The Warriors jumped out to a 9-2 lead and ended the quarter leading 14-8 behind six points from Ash.

“I was just patient and I started off inside around the basket,” Ash said. “That’s how I just get my early baskets. That’s how I got my game off.”

In the second quarter, the Wildcats did manage to come back. West Genesee scored the first four points of the quarter to cut the lead to two with just over six minutes left in the half. After Christian Cain nailed back-to-back 3-pointers, West Genesee led 22-18.

Faced with its first deficit of the game, Liverpool responded with big-time shots from Wingate. The junior scored five-straight points to put the Warriors ahead 25-24 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Wingate remained hot. He drained three 3-pointers in the quarter to help Liverpool carry a 47-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

“He makes a lot of shots and he was hesitant in the first half,” Blackwell said. “He was second-guessing himself, but he got himself going in the third.”

“I knew I had to do something,” Wingate said. “It was a one-point game. We needed a lead, so I started to bring my game up.”

West Genesee was paced by Christian Amica and Cain, who each scored 16 points.

In the fourth, the Wildcats kept it within 10 the whole quarter but were never able to break through and regain the lead. The closest West Genesee got was five points before the Warriors padded their lead time and time again.

The win marks the fifth-straight time Liverpool (20-3) defeated West Genesee (18-5) including last year’s Section III Class AA championship.

“To win back-to-back is a testament to our guys and the Liverpool community, the coaching staff, just the players all together that dig down deep,” Blackwell said. “At the beginning of the year, I saw a lot of people picked us third or fourth in our own league because we lost a lot of players. We had players leave for prep school, but I knew with Andreo, Bruce and Jah’Deuir (Reese) coming back, three of the toughest guys I’ve ever coached, we would rally around them and get it done.”

The Warriors will play in regionals against Section II champion Green Tech on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. at SRC Arena. Green Tech defeated Liverpool in regionals last season.

“We wanted to see (Green Tech) again,” Blackwell said. “Obviously we didn’t want to look too far ahead, but we were paying attention to what was going on with Section II and they came to our place, beat us by six, close game without Andreo. So with a healthy team, I’m happy to get another shot at them.”

The team is excited to win its second-straight section championship but still has its sights on something bigger.

“This job’s not done,” Wingate said. “We’re coming.”

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