What the Cicero-North Syracuse boys basketball team demonstrated, in beating Nottingham in its Dec. 6 opener, was that it still had the goods to win plenty of games, even with Connor Evans forced to the sidelines for the winter.
But that didn’t mean the Northstars were free and clear, by any means. Top contenders like Henninger remain a major challenge, something C-NS found out, up-close, when it lost, 67-49, to the Black Knights in last Tuesday night’s home opener.
During the same Peppino’s Invitational where the Northstars had beaten Nottingham, Henninger, the host team, had won twice, fighting off CBA (78-72) and Troy (68-62) with fine efforts from the tandem of Romero Collier and Shaitique Blatche.
Now, at C-NS, the Black Knights didn’t let down, even during a first half where several of its starters got into foul trouble and the Northstars faced right up to them, seizing a 9-6 lead late in the first quarter.
Henninger countered with an 8-0 run to close the period, and moved ahead for good. Then, during the second period, senior K.J. White scored 11 points, seven of them in the span of less than a minute, and the Northstars, despite plenty of effort and energy, trailed, 34-21, at the break.
The deficit got as large as 18, 39-21, early in the third quarter before C-NS used an 11-3 run to creep back into it. But it would get no closer than 10 the rest of the way, Henninger’s pressure leading to baskets on the other end.
White finished with a game-high 22 points, with Collier earning 11 assists and four steals to go with his 13 points as Blatche added 16 points and Terrence Walker grabbed 10 rebounds.
On C-NS’s side, Brendan Gacek put together a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds. Nick Antonello had 15 points and eight rebounds, while A.J. Nesci dished out six assists. Aside from Gacek and Antonello, tough, no other Northstars player had more than two field goals.
On Friday night, C-NS stayed home to face Fayetteville-Manlius, the team it knocked off in last year’s Section III Class AA semifinal.
Having seen all-time leading scorer John Schurman graduate (he’s now at Binghamton University), F-M had lost its opener to West Genesee, but perhaps remembering what happened a season ago, it came to C-NS and brought lots of defensive energy, which made the difference as it defeated the Northstars 49-41.
F-M gained a 15-8 lead through one period, and then watched as its trademark 1-3-1 zone got locked in early, and would bother C-NS throughout the contest.
Any time the Northstars tried to inch closer, F-M had a quick answer, usually from Nick Quilty-Koval, who produced 18 points and six rebounds, establishing himself as an inside force. David Stegemann added eight points and eight rebounds.
And it was a big day for F-M’s senior point guard, Jake Wittig. Not only did he dish out nine assists to go with six rebounds, four steals and five points, he announced that he would attend the University of Rochester next fall.
Theetge, with 15 points and five rebounds, and Antonello, with 11 points and four rebounds, accounted for most of C-NS’s production. No other player had more than two field goals.
Having fallen to 1-2 on the season, C-NS looks to break the skid at head coach John Haas’s alma mater, CBA, on Tuesday night, its only action this week.
