CENTRAL NEW YORK – With January nearing a conclusion, the quest for the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool girls basketball teams was the same – find success and gear up for the bigger battles ahead.
Coming off a split of two games in the “Best of NYS” Tournament it hosted the previous weekend, the state Class AA no. 18-ranked Northstars faced Henninger last Tuesday and got another big performance from Alexa Kulakowski as it beat the Black Knights 63-46.
When these teams first met in December, Kulakowski erupted for 31 points, two more than the entire Henninger roster.
That didn’t happen here, but Kulakowski wasn’t too far off, either, again burning the Black Knights’ defense as she scored 27 points, helped by Kathleen Taru’s 13 points and Sydney Nesci’s nine points.
A 15-5 push through the second quarter put C-NS in control and it maintained that the rest of the way, despite Tayajah Scott leading Henninger with 17 points.
After beating Saratoga Springs 67-64 on Jan. 15, C-NS met up the next day with another Section II foe, Shenendehowa, and lost 62-54 to the state AA no. 10-ranked Plainsmen.
For most of the game, Shen was out in front, and it deftly turned away all of C-NS’s rallies. Still, Alita Carey-Santangelo put up 21 points, with Kulakowski earning 17 points as Nesci got eight points and Kathleen Taru, back in the lineup, earned six points.
After beating Henninger, the Northstars turned its attention to Friday’s game against West Genesee – whom Liverpool had beaten 64-52 earlier in the week, helped by another big performance from Naveah Wingate.
Leading most of the way, the Warriors built a 47-36 margin by the end of the third quarter, and nothing the Wildcats did on defense worked against Wingate, who poured in 30 points.
Just as important was the season-best 15 points from Julia Wike as Gianna Washington had eight points and Jakeira Stackhouse seven points. For WG, Mollie James earned 19 points and Erin DiPaola added 16 points.
Making it back-to-back wins last Thursday, Liverpool crushed Central Square 65-22 as all nine players that saw action got at least one field goal. Wingate had 16 points, with Washington adding 12 points, Janea Hamilton-Brown getting 10 points and Stackhouse earning nine points.
Now C-NS faced West Genesee, and the first half decided matters as the Northstars, strong on both ends, bolted out to a 34-13 halftime lead.
Though that margin decreased a bit, C-NS still defeated the Wildcats 63-51 as Kulakowski got 21 points, including three 3-pointers, while Carey-Santangelo and Brayden Schutltz had 13 points apiece and Nesci got eight points. Hannah Sparks led WG with 16 points.
With no time to rest, C-NS met state Class A no. 2-ranked Pittsford Mendon on Saturday and found itself in a classic that stretched to double overtime before the Northstars absorbed a 52-48 defeat.
Both teams struggled in the early going, and Kulakowski all but carried C-NS’s attack, netting 15 of her team’s 23 points in the first three quarters.
Then the pace picked up in the final period and the Northstars ate into Mendon’s lead. Finally, with less than a second left in regulation, Nesci hit a jump shot from the corner to tie it, 40-40, and force OT.
Nesci was clutch again when her 3-pointer in the waning seconds of the first extra period forced a second OT, but Mendon recovered to pull it out, overcoming Kulakowski’s 23 points and Nesci’s 13 points.
