Replacing all five starters from a 14-6 side that went to the Section III Class AA semifinals a season ago, the Cicero-North Syracuse boys basketball team had a rough opening night.
The Northstars lost, 63-36, to Webster Thomas (Section V) last Friday, mostly due to a first half where it only managed a handful of field goals.
And the Titans took full advantage of this, going on a 25-5 run during the second quarter, from which C-NS never recovered. Mike Lumia had seven points, five of them from free throws, while Troy McIntyre also got seven points. Mike Tricarico and Brian Schenk each had five points.
Now the Northstars enter a busy and high-profile weekend of local activity – and Liverpool will join them in the fray, beginning its first full season under new head coach Matt Jacob.
The Warriors begin its season with an appearance at the Baldwinsville Kiwanis Tournament, taking on Corcoran in Thursday night’s opening round, with a game to follow on Friday against B’ville or Auburn.
Then, on Sunday at 5 p.m., Liverpool will face B’ville in the Carrier Dome as part of the third annual Hall of Fame Classic. The Bees beat the Warriors in this same event a year ago.
Meanwhile, C-NS has two more tests. On Saturday at noon, the Northstars meet Nottingham in the Peppino’s Classic at Henninger. Then it goes to the Dome on Sunday and follows up the Liverpool-B’ville game by facing Class AA favorite Fayetteville-Manlius at 7 p.m.
As this goes on, the C-NS girls basketball team begins the post-Breanna Stewart era, the two-time defending state Class AA champions appearing in this weekend’s Utica Proctor Tournament.
The Northstars face Gates-Chili in Saturday’s opening round, with another game to follow on Sunday. Liverpool’s girls basketball will meet Proctor in its season opener on Dec. 11.
