A change in the schedule meant that the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team would go up against state-ranked section IV opponents twice in a 48-hour span. And while neither game proved easy, the Northstars won them both.
It started when the Northstars hosted Binghamton Seton Catholic last Thursday night, making up a game scheduled for Jan. 3, but postponed due to travel concerns for Seton Catholic.
Less than three weeks later, the roads were fine – and so were the state Class AA no. 7-ranked Northstars, who got pushed for a half by the Saints, but then took over in the third quarter and earned a 60-49 victory.
Easy wins in recent games were quickly forgotten when Seton Catholic, who was no. 12 in the state Class B poll, trailing 14-7 after one period, clamped down on defense and held C-NS to six points in the second quarter. But the Saints didn’t take full advantage of it, only nibbling into its deficit.
Thus, the Northstars, who led 20-15 at the break, could adjust and, in the third quarter, unleash its attack, more than doubling its point total during a decisive 23-12 push.
McKayla Roberts drew lots of contact and finished with 18 points, seven of them from free throws. Emilee Norris added 13 points, while Beth Bonin got 10 points and Amani Free added eight points.
Two nights later, C-NS went to SRC Arena state Class AA no. 13-ranked Horseheads as part of a “More Than A Game” twin bill raising money for Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital, the other game featuring Jamesville-DeWitt against Pittsford Sutherland in a rematch of last year’s state Class A final.
But while J-D smashed a short-handed Sutherland squad 60-25 in a case of sweet payback, C-NS had to work a lot harder, trailing for large portions of the game against Horseheads before clutch play, especially from Roberts, helped the Northstars edge past the Blue Raiders 47-42.
C-NS did not take its first lead until early in the second quarter, and that only lasted less than a minute. Horseheads senior forward Amanda Schiefen, who is going to Canisius next year, used her effective left-handed jumper to score nine first-half points, and the Northstars trailed, 24-22, going into intermission.
Trailing by as much as five in the third quarter, the Northstars fought back and, with a 13-2 run, went in front, 37-31, entering the final period before the Blue Raiders staged its own comeback, taking a 40-38 lead on Schieffen’s basket with 3:19 left.
Going cold, C-NS did not have a field goal for much of the fourth quarter. Then, with two minutes left and her team still down by a point, 40-39, Roberts seized the initiative.
It began with a driving lay-up and foul, which Roberts converted for a three-point play. Then, after Schieffen hit two free throws to tie it, 42-42, Roberts hit a runner with 1:18 left, which gave the Northstars the lead for good.
Norris picked up a big rebound on a missed 3-pointer from Samantha Tortora. Passing it around, C-NS used up some clock until Bonin was fouled with 13.2 seconds left, and she made both free throws.
Roberts added one more foul shot in the waning moments. Of her 12 points, six came in those final two minutes as Bonin contributed 11 points. Tortora added nine points and Free eight points as Schieffen paced Horseheads with 16 points.
On Tuesday night, C-NS hosts Fayetteville-Manlius in the “Pink the Gym” fund-raiser, organized by Norris, that will raise money for breast cancer research. The Northstars visit Corcoran on Friday and play Liverpool next Tuesday before the long-anticipated showdown with Baldwinsville on Feb. 6.
