Having already achieved plenty of special feats in the last half-dozen years, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team now stands alone in a different way.
When the Northstars rolled past Rome Free Academy 55-27 Saturday night in the Section III Class AA final at Onondaga Community College’s SRC Arena, it became the first program, regardless of class, to claim seven consecutive girls basketball sectional titles.
And while it’s true that the run began with the four years Breanna Stewart spent dominating the competition, it’s now carried on well past her departure, for while the personnel is new and the methods are different, the results are the same.
In fact, what top-seeded, state no. 3-ranked C-NS offered up against no. 2 seed RFA was a blueprint that could easily lead to a third state championship in five years, if it’s repeated three more times in the two weeks ahead.
“We played like we practiced,” said head coach Eric Smith. “We played free, and not tight.”
It started with the Northstars’ defensive approach. At 19-2, the Black Knights featured a difficult match-up in 6-foot-3 center Tiana Pugh, who not only had the ability to get baskets inside, but also step up and hit 3-pointers if left alone on the perimeter.
Keying on Pugh, C-NS turned to its junior sparkplug, guard McKayla Roberts. At 5-foot-3, Roberts gave away a full foot to Pugh, but used her speed and tenacity to follow Pugh everywhere.
Often, that led to Pugh giving up outside shots to try and penetrate, by which time C-NS’s forward trio of Emilee Norris, Samantha Tortora and Amani Free could help out with a double team.
It proved quite effective. Pugh had just eight points, and did not sink a 3-pointer all night. Having contained Pugh, C-NS turned to its offense, where again it showed that it could beat an opponent many different ways.
Sometimes, it involved Roberts driving to the basket or pulling up to hit a 3-pointer. Other times, Free got space in the paint and finished off her conversions. And when those two weren’t converting, Beth Bonin was getting open and making baskets, too.
By the time they went to the bench in the fourth quarter, the game long decided, Roberts (named the tournament MVP), Free and Bonin each had 15 points, the trio helping C-NS close the first half on a 17-4 run, from which RFA never recovered.
Now it’s back to the state AA tournament, where next Saturday at Colgate University’s Cotterell Court, C-NS will face the Section II champion (Shenendehowa or Bethlehem) in the regional final. A win gets the Northstars yet another trip to Hudson Valley Community College in Troy for the March 20-21 state final four.
