It took just two games for the new reality of the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team to take hold.
When the Northstars lost, 49-35, to Christian Brothers Academy last Friday night at Buddy Wleklinski Court, it marked the first times since Feb. 11, 2014 (Nottingham prevailed 56-44 that night) that any Section III opponent had claimed a game against C-NS.
Of course, context is important. While that win streak was built up by experienced, championship-proven Northstars teams, this year’s version does not have a senior in the starting five and only had one game (a win over Fulton Dec. 7) in the books.
CBA had undergone its own struggles during a 1-4 start, but at least it had played five games against brutal competition, which included losses to Central Square, Bishop Ludden, Fayetteville-Manlius and Westhill.
When the Brothers met up with C-NS, It turned into a shoot-out – for one quarter, anyway. Breaking through against the vaunted Northstars defense, CBA established a 24-16 lead.
Things slowed down from there, at least for the rest of the half, but C-NS could not cut into that deficit, and the Brothers, led by Brooke Jarvis (19 points) and Nafysa Williams (18 points, eight rebounds), used a 12-5 run in the third quarter to get away.
Only two C-NS players managed more than two field goals. Ariana Corasaniti had 10 points, most of it from hitting a pair of 3-pointers, while Julianna Vassallo finished with nine points.
During the week before the holiday break, the Northstars would have its first CNY Counties League games of the winter, visiting Henninger Tuesday and hosting West Genesee Friday in a rematch of last winter’s sectional Class AA final.
While C-NS was stumbling at CBA, Liverpool was in search of its first victory of the season at home against Rome Free Academy, and found it by battling its way past the Black Knights 52-44.
It took a while for both teams to warm up and make some baskets, but when it did happen, the Warriors were able to match whatever RFA produced, steadily gaining a 28-23 lead by halftime.
This pattern persisted the rest of the way, Liverpool clinging to a small lead largely based on the work of Jenna Wike and Kyra Grimshaw. Wike finished with 19 points, while Grimshaw put up 14 points. Holly Sleeth added nine points as Alexis Schulze (15 points) and Amanda Wilbert (10 rebounds) led the BlackKnights’ efforts.
Now the Warriors would try and build on that success in Tuesday’s game at Baldwinsville against a Bees side that started 3-0 before dropping two of three games late last week in a tournament at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex in Florida. Liverpool also visits Nottingham on Friday night.
