At venues nearly 3,000 miles apart, the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool girls basketball team would each have exciting, memorable experiences during the holiday break, but also got in some games, too.
For the Northstars, the destination was San Francisco, a trip deemed as a reward for all the work done by the players, especially the seniors, in maintaining the program’s dominance in the CNY Counties League and Section III Class AA ranks.
And while a fair amount of sightseeing took place, C-NS also had the business of playing in the Eastside Prep Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, and that business proved successful as the Northstars claimed the first-place trophy.
In its opening game Monday night, C-NS took on Arroyo Grande, from central California, and trailed at halftime before a dominant second half produced a 56-39 victory over the Eagles.
Perhaps still trying to adjust from the travel, the Northstars weren’t as stingy as normal in the first half, and went to intermission staring at a 30-24 deficit. But quick adjustments were made and, for the rest of the night, Arroyo Grande was shut down, managing just nine total points in the last two periods.
On the other end, C-NS didn’t rely on a single player to get the offense in gear. Instead, Beth Bonin and McKayla Roberts both produced 15 points, with Samantha Tortora adding nine points and Amani Free earning seven points.
The Northstars would get a closer call a day later in the semifinals, meeting Archbishop Mitty, from San Jose, in a game that was in doubt all the way to the wire, but again C-NS prevailed, beating the Monarchs by a 67-61 margin.
Even as it outscored Mitty 14-7 in the second quarter to take a 32-23 lead to halftime, C-NS wasn’t safe. The Monarchs closed within two, 48-46, going to the fourth quarter, and it required a slew of late free throws for the Northstars to hang on.
Free, in particular, stood out, earning 25 points, seven of them at the foul line. Bonin got seven of her 17 points from free throws as Roberts finished with 14 points. Mary Kate Bonanni got all six of her points from a pair of successful 3-point shots.
All of it would conclude with Wednesday night’s championship game against Valencia, but again the combination of strong inside play and hot outside shooting made the Northstars lethal as it vanquished the Vikings 62-53.
Fittingly, Roberts set the tone, hitting on a trio of 3-pointers and getting 11 points overall as C-NS jumped on Valencia 22-11 in the first quarter. The Vikings closed within single digits, 33-25, by halftime, but the Northstars outscored them 18-13 in the third quarter and would not get caught.
Roberts earned most of her team-high 21 points from hitting six 3-pointers. Yet Valencia couldn’t concentrate on her because Free was picking up 18 points and Tortora connected twice on 3-pointers on her way to 10 points. Bonin had three of her eight points at the free-throw line.
While all this was going on, Liverpool, carrying a five-game win streak that included a Dec. 22 win over previously unbeaten Fayetteville-Manlius, was making its own set of memories in Florida, playing a tournament at the Disney Wide World of Sports complex near Orlando in between trips to various theme parks.
In the tournament opener against Barberton (Ohio), the Warriors started well, but could not sustain it against the Magics in a 56-49 defeat.
Liverpool led 16-10 through one period, only to see Barberton, located near Cleveland, hold them to 13 points in the next two periods and take a 36-29 lead. Despite a late surge, the Warriors could not catch up as Drew Dufrane, in defeat, had 13 points, with Jenna Wike adding eight points. Bri Socker got seven points as Holy Sleeth and Precious Sneed had six points apiece.
Two days later, the Warriors resumed action against Esperanza. Again, it was close, but again Liverpool took a defeat by a 44-41 margin.
A steady first half allowed the Warriors to lead 26-19 at intermission, but it got just six points in the third quarter, allowing Esperanza to catch up. Unable to find its rhythm again, Liverpool took the defeat as Dufrane put up 15 points, with Wike adding 11 points and six rebounds. Taylor Van Camp produced seven assists.
Then, on New Year’s Eve, Liverpool salvaged a victory from the tournament by defeating Carmel, from Putnam County in the Hudson River valley, 51-41, a game that was only closer because the Warriors surrendered some of its margin to the Rams after steadily building a 43-23 over the course of the first three quarters.
It turned out as a showcase for Wike, who burned Carmel with 25 points. She all but carried Liverpool’s attack, as no other player had more than five points, though Sleeth and Kayleigh Young earned five steals apiece and Trisha Lane contributed six rebounds.
