Everything was set up for the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team to stumble at Baldwinsville last Tuesday night.
Just nine players were dressed for the Northstars, and the Bees, at 12-4 on the season, were keyed up in front of a large home crowd on Senior Night, eager to avenge a Jan. 9 defeat.
And none of that mattered because C-NS, with a big scoring blitz to open the second half, turned a close contest into a comfortable 73-56 victory.
The short-handed Northstars did not have point guard Morgan Siechen in the lineup due to illness, replaced on this night by Mackenzie White. Jessica Cook was just returning to the lineup after she sat out a game, and would go to the bench with three fouls early in the second quarter.
Without Cook to protect the paint, B’ville erased C-NS’s 20-10 lead with a 13-2 run. Even though the Northstars recovered to go back in front 30-28 by halftime, the Bees had a reason to feel confident.
But then the third quarter got underway, and in the first 90 seconds Cook hit on back-to-back baskets and also grabbed a rebound to set up a 3-pointer from White.
It didn’t stop there, as C-NS eventually produced a 21-3 run, most of it from Cook and senior Julianna Vassallo, who had six consecutive points on her way to 14 points overall.
What made that spurt so impressive was that just one of the baskets came from Amani Free. She finished with 20 points, but just five in the second half as B’ville concentrated its defense on stopping her, but it backfired.
Held to a single free throw in her limited early minutes, Cook poured in 16 points after intermission, helped by Julia Rowe, who added eight points. Nia Williams also offered valuable work at point guard in Siechen’s absence.
Jenna Costello led B’ville with 18 points, all from six 3-pointers as Carolyn Brussel had 10 points and Katie Pascale added nine points.
C-NS would close the regular season Friday against Henninger just as Liverpool faced its own game against Baldwinsville that could alter the eventual Section III Class AA playoff seeding.
As it turned out, the Liverpool game would prove happy on many fronts for the Warriors, and not just because it avenged a previous defeat to B’ville by smashing the Bees 56-33.
With her 18 points, Jenna Wike passed Robin Capoto (1,040 points) and became the Liverpool girls basketball program’s all-time leading scorer.
But that was just one small part of an exceptional Warriors effort as it reversed a 58-44 loss to B’ville a month earlier. Wike and Kyra Grimshaw, who finished with 16 points, each hit on three 3-pointers as Lexi Emmi added eight points.
Liverpool goes into the sectional tournament 14-6, while C-NS is 18-2 in the wake of defeating Henninger 68-50 in the last regular-season home game for the Northstars’ pair of seniors, Free and Vassallo.
Unlike some Senior Night games where the distractions can lead to a rough start, C-NS, still without Siechen in the lineup, bolted out 25-8 on the Black Knights by the end of the first quarter and eventually led 59-31 through three periods.
Free put up 17 points, including three 3-pointers, while Brandi Feeney stepped up with 12 points and Cook put in 10 points. White and Williams had nine points apiece as Rowe got six points.
