Liverpool girls basketball trailed Cicero-North Syracuse by as many as 22 points with about four minutes to go in the first half of Tuesday night's matchup at Liverpool High School.
Liverpool coach Mike Wheeler said he told his girls that "it would be easy to just pack it up and call it a night" because it's just a regular season game.
"But, that's not how we play basketball," he said. "I'm an intense guy. I'm an intense coach and my players play with that energy that I have."
Wheeler's team responded with a 12-0 run to close the second quarter. the reigning Class AA champs then used a 38-14 advantage in the second half to secure the 61-49 victory.
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"We just kept it going and the energy was there," Wheeler said. "Really, that's how we play. If one person starts it, like A'briyah Cunningham, then everyone else follows. She just was great up top tonight in our zone, and then everybody else kind of just followed and got right behind her and we just went on a tremendous run."
Wheeler also credited Liverpool's home fans for spurring on the comeback effort.
"The crowd was amazing," he said. "The place was packed. I think the crowd was electric for us. I think that they were like our sixth man. They just got us going. I think a lot of it had to do with that."
Cunningham finished Tuesday's matchup with a game-high 23 points. Senior Kaylyn Sweeney and junior Gianna Washington each chipped in 13 points for Liverpool.
C-NS was led by 19 points from senior forward Kat McRobbie-Taru. The Northstars (1-1) travel to Fairport for a 12:30 p.m. matchup on Saturday.
The last time the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool shared the court they were competing for the Section III Class AA title. Including that sectional title game, Liverpool has now won four of its last six matchups against the Northstars.
Wheeler said for his team to repeat the success they had a year ago they will need to continue to improve as a "close-knit unit."
"We talk about composure with us and then practicing hard every day," he said. "We try and practice hard as a basketball team, just like it's a game. When we're doing drills, when we're running our sets, when we're playing any side games against each other, we play physically and aggressively and I thought it showed when we wanted to flip a switch on."
