Fresh off opening its season with a victory in the Lady Raider Tournament, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team tried to find similar success when it went to Kean University in Union Township, N.J., for last weekend’s Festival of the Phoenix Tournament. In last Friday night’s opening round, the Northstars faced Blair, one of the local opponents, and though it got slowed down, CNS still won by a score of 48-38. New Jersey, like most states, does not employ a shot clock in high school basketball, so teams can set whatever tempos they like, fast or slow, without worrying about having to do it within 30 seconds, as CNS has to when it plays at or close to home. It took a while for the Northstars to adjust, as it dragged through a 12-12 first half that included a second quarter where CNS got just two points. Finally breaking out in the third quarter, CNS outscored Blair 19-6, moving ahead for good and negating the opposition’s slow-down tactics. Breanna Stewart finished with 17 points, including a 3-pointer, while Sarah Bowles stepped up to score 11 points and point guard Kelsey Mattice added nine points. Those same strategies were present in Sunday’s final, against St. John Vianney – and this time CNS could not overcome them, taking a 48-37 defeat. Through three evenly played periods, neither side could break out – which Vianney didn’t mind, since it was keeping the Northstars from playing at a faster pace. In the fourth quarter, though, Vianney doubled CNS’s output, 20-10, as Zoe Otterman and Kate O’Reilly got 11 points apiece. In defeat, Stewart led both sides with 18 points as Abbey Timpano earned eight points and Brittany Paul added six points. CNS practices all through this week, then travels to the Disney World complex in Orlando just after Christmas for another high-profile tournament on Dec. 28 and 29.