To put it lightly, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team was steamed that its 10-game win streak had been halted Jan. 11 in a 60-58 overtime loss to Corcoran.
Ranked in the state’s Class AA top 10, the Northstars set out to make sure that defeat was just as small blip on the road to a possible top seed in the Section III playoffs next month.
CNS was ferocious, especially on the defensive side, in last Tuesday’s game at West Genesee, where it ripped the Wildcats 60-33 in a resumption of its tendency to win one-sided contests.
Taking the lead early, the Northstars really began to dominate after halftime. It outscored WG 22-8 in the third quarter, then held the Wildcats to just three points in the final period to squash any notion of a comeback.
Marybeth Egan led the way on offense with 16 points, as she and Nicole Dwyer (nine points) each had a trio of 3-pointers. Shannon Hickin had 11 points, while Breanna Stewart and Morgan Nandin put up eight points apiece.
For WG, Alyssa Sutherland had 12 points and Amanda Cizenski got 11 points, but their work was overshadowed as the Northstars had 10 different players score (double the Wildcats’ total) and held productive players like Liz Wierbinski and Nicole Monroe to just one field goal each.
On Friday night, CNS came home to face another quality opponent in 9-4 Fayetteville-Manlius and did much the same thing as it did against West Genesee, pulling away in the late going to bury the Hornets 66-42.
Right from the start, the Northstars pushed the tempo, steadily gaining a 35-22 edge by halftime as all aspects of the offense were clicking.
F-M would make a stand in the third quarter, but soon lost steam as CNS closed on a 17-5 run, doubling its margin in the process.
Mainly, the Hornets didn’t know which CNS player would take the next shot. Dwyer put up 16 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, while Egan gained 15 points. Stewart wasn’t far behind, with 14 points, as Nandin (11 points) also had a big night.
By contrast, F-M did not have a single player get into double figures, with Morgan Axenfeld (nine points), Torie Lee and Dana Gould (eight points) coming close.
Parked at 14-2 on the season, CNS could see the top seed in the AA playoffs get decided when it hosts Oswego on Friday night.
The Northstars beat the Buccaneers early this season, but Oswego enters this week riding an eight-game win streak that includes last Friday’s 50-42 win over Liverpool.
