With two more wins last weekend, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team closed its regular season at 18-2, though that mark was not quite enough to land the top seed for the Section III Class AA playoffs.
Still, both efforts were quite good, starting Friday night, when the Northstars took over in the third quarter and rolled past Utica Proctor 74-41.
On the defensive side, CNS pretty much let Proctor’s 1,000-point sophomore, Brianna Kiesel, have her fun, as Kiesel got 25 points. But it contained the rest of the lineup, limiting the Raiders’ options.
CNS had a 33-23 edge at halftime, but made its real getaway in a lopsided third quarter where it outscored the Raiders 24-8.
Breanna Stewart, with 19 points, led four Northstars in double figures. Marybeth Egan had 14 points, most of it from a trio of 3-pointers, while Brittany Paul stepped up for 14 points and Shannon Hickin added 11 points.
In a rare Sunday outing, CNS met Rochester Aquinas, from the Section V ranks, and nearly matched its Proctor outcome by crushing the Irish 75-42.
Bolting out of the gate, the Northstars had 30 points by the end of the first quarter, and didn’t stop there, steadily gaining a 67-28 edge over the next two periods by again spreading its offense around.
Paul led this time, with 15 points, though Egan (14 points) was close behind as each of them hit on a trio of 3-pointers. Inside, Stewart picked up 12 points and Hickin added 10 points.
CNS found out that day that it had the no. 3 seed for the Class AA playoffs and a first-round bye. The Northstars will host Nottingham or Liverpool in next Tuesday’s AA quarterfinals.
