Just a week after seeing a 25-point lead disappear in its season opener against Fairport, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys basketball team found itself with another large advantage during Friday night’s home opener against Christian Brothers Academy.
This time, though, the Northstars weren’t surrendering anything. Vaughndell Brantley’s career-best 24 points set the pace as CNS smashed the Brothers 83-49 to win its third consecutive game.
Every game between CNS and CBA carries high emotion because the Northstars’ head coach, John Haas, went to CBA in the late 1980s, earning a spot in that school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.
Buddy Wleklinski still coaches at CBA, too, so when Haas gets a chance to compete against his mentor, he wants to win it a bit more, and makes sure his players receive that message, too.
They did here, as CNS compounded the misery of a CBA side that had struggled to an uncharacteristic 1-2 start.
A back-and-forth first period ended in a 16-16 deadlock, but from that point on it was all Northstars. The pivotal second quarter saw CNS light up the board and use a faster tempo to zoom right past CBA, which produced a 42-32 edge at the break.
It would only get more lopsided in the second half, especially during a 16-0 run that started the fourth quarter. At one point, the margin grew to 40 before the starters went to the bench.
Brantley led the way, constantly drawing contact as 10 of his 24 points were from successful free throws. He was one of four CNS players in double figures as Shakir Thomas earned 12 points, Logan Roberts got 11 points and Brian Quartier added 10 points.
Mike Tricarico (seven points) and Andrew Johnson (six points) were close behind as CNS saw 12 different players get at least two points and 10 of them earn field goals. By contrast, no CBA player hit double figures as Charlie Russo led with nine points.
