Before a pandemic upended everything, the plan for the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team involved building upon last winter’s impressive run to the Section III Class AA championship.
The Northstars would do so with a new head coach – Rob Siechen, who guided Jamesville-DeWitt to three consecutive state Class A titles from 2016 to 2018.
Still here, though, was senior forward Jessica Cook, C-NS’s latest hoops superstar who, over the summer, announced that she would attend the University of Toledo in the fall.
Now, of course, the Northstars are glad just to have any kind of season, and it began last Friday against West Genesee, the side it dethroned as sectional champions.
It didn’t start well, C-NS falling behind and held to just seven points in the first quarter. But the Northstars outscored the Wildcats 21-7 the rest of the half and went on to a 72-42 victory to make Siechen’s debut succcessful.
Gradually, Cook asserted herself in the paint. Between eight field goals and eight successful free throws, she finished with 24 points and had plenty of support from the Northstars’ perimeter players.
Alita Carey-Santangelo and newcomer Kathleen Taru each picked up 10 points, with Alex Kulakowski adding nine points and Sydney Nesci getting eight points. Nicole O’Neil had six points as she joined Nesci and Carey-Santangelo in each hitting a pair of 3-pointers.
Before all this, Liverpool had the high honor of playing the first girls varsity basketball game of this abbreviated Section III season in the school’s brand-new gymnasium.
Baldwinville, who lost to C-NS in last March’s sectional AA final, was the opponent, and it was close for a half before the Bees, relying on its experience and depth, got away to prevail 69-50.
All through the first two periods, Liverpool’s defense mostly contained B’ville, and a strong second-quarter push actually had the Warriors in front 25-22 going to the break.
But all the pressure the Bees put on led to turnovers and a steady stream of baskets in the third and fourth quarters, which overcame Liverpool’s balanced scoring effort.
Four Warriors hit double figures as Victoria Morgan had 13 points, Naveah Wingate and Alyssa DiMillo each had 11 points and Sophie Saeger earned 10 points.
Countering this, B’ville got a bit more from its top scorers. Sydney Huhtala, with 20 points, led the way as Alexandra Bednarczyk got 17 points, Hannah Mimas 15 points and Kyrah Wilbur 12 points.
At East Syracuse Minoa on Thursday, Liverpool broke into the win column in a big way, handling the Spartans 59-39.
All through the first half, the Warriors dominated on both sides of the floor, gaining a 32-13 advantage that allowed it to withstand ESM’s third-quarter charge.
Closing strong on a 17-7 note, Liverpool saw Wingate go to the forefront, earning 19 points. Morgan got 10 points, with DiMillo adding nine points.
