Now the next chapter has started for the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team.
It might not resemble the machine-like group that mowed down local opposition on the way to eight consecutive Section III Class AA championships, but it might prove, in the end, far more fascinating.
McKayla Roberts, Samantha Tortora, Beth Bonin and Mary Kate Bonanni graduated, and Amani Free transferred to Long Island Lutheran. So Northstars head coach Eric Smith trotted out a brand-new starting five for last Wednesday’s season opener against Fulton, entirely composed of underclassmen with just one junior among them.
Yet even if the names on the court are new and unfamiliar, the result, at least at the outset, was quite familiar – a C-NS victory, attained by a 49-36 margin, that featured plenty of tough defense from a side that always prided itself on shutting the opposition down.
That resistance was needed, too, for after the Northstars grabbed a 20-12 lead on Fulton in a productive first quarter, it cooled down, allowing the Red Raiders to hang around in the game’s middle stages despite having no one net more than the 10 points put up by McKenna Chesbro.
Ultimately, C-NS would get away, presenting a well-balanced attack where Arianna Corasanti (12 points), Jessica Cook (11 points) and Julianna Vasallo (10 points) each hit double figures. Morgan Siechen, the new starting point guard, and Aniah Ingram had five points apiece.
The next step for C-NS comes after a nine-day waiting period as it will visit Christian Brothers Academy this Friday and open CNY Counties League play the following week against Henninger and West Genesee, one of the many challengers itching to end the Northstars’ long sectional title reign.
Having lost its season opener to Gulf Coast (Florida) on Dec. 1, the Liverpool girls basketball team waited a week, and then ventured to Utica Proctor last Friday night, where another opportunity slipped away in a 49-47 defeat to the Raiders.
Steadily, Proctor gained a 28-20 halftime lead, paced by Achol Ajang, who finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Da’Janay Miller-Peak, who had 14 rebounds to go with 12 points, four steals and three blocks.
During the third quarter, Liverpool moved within three, 38-35, yet could not quite catch up as Kyra Grimshaw matched Ajang’s total of 22 points, with Jenna Wike adding 10 points as Holly Sleeth and Bella Barner had six points apiece. Liverpool is back home this Friday to face Rome Free Academy.
