In years past, when the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball teams got together, it was fairly clear which side was the established power and which side was the aspirant to that spot at the top.
But when the ‘Star Wars’ rivalry resumed last Friday night, things had changed. Both sides were mired in long skids and desperate for any kind of victory, and it was the Warriors that would earn it, maintaining its slim lead through most of the night and defeating the Northstars 55-47.
This was the first half of a girls/boys varsity doubleheader, dubbed the “Griff Out” because proceeds from the game went to the Griffin’s Guardians charity, which is leading the fight against pediatric cancer. It included a raffle that featured game-worn items from Breanna Stewart.
On the court, Liverpool was quite glad Stewart, and so many other recent C-NS greats, weren’t around to thwart them again. Amid a fast pace, the Warriors gained an 18-13 lead on the Northstars by the end of the first quarter.
For the rest of the night, two things happened. C-NS would not let Liverpool get comfortable with its lead thanks to the work of Jessica Cook, who poured in a game-high 23 points. Yet the Warriors made sure the Northstars didn’t catch up, either, deftly trading baskets and making key defensive stops.
On Liverpool’s side, Jenna Wike finished with 14 points, while Kyra Grimshaw earned six of her 12 points at the free-throw line and Holly Sleeth got into double figures with 10 points. Lexi Emmi added six points and Amanda Barnell got five points. Aside from Cook, Ariana Corasaniti (nine points) and Julianna Vassallo (six points) accounted for most of C-NS’s production.
What had started when both Liverpool and C-NS lost twice in the Amsterdam Tournament on Dec. 27 and 28 continued last Tuesday night, when the Warriors, at home, fell to Henninger 51-48 and the Northstars got shut out in the first quarter of a loss to Fayetteville-Manlius.
Liverpool expected to beat Henninger, who had started 0-4 before winning the Dec. 27-28 Solvay Tournament. And the Warriors led 23-17 at halftime, only to give up that edge in the third quarter and watch the Black Knights outscore them2 0-17 in an active fourth quarter.
Barnell led the Warriors with 16 points, with Grimshaw adding 14 points and Wike contributing nine points. Henninger won with 18 points from Shynia Chandler and 12 points from Gjina Lewis as Lindsay Morelli added nine points.
Meanwhile, at Fayetteville-Manlius, C-NS did not get on the scoreboard until the second quarter. That first-quarter shutout gave the Hornets an 11-0 edge it continued to nurse and build throughout the evening thanks to consistent defense and an attack that did more than enough.
Aniah Ingram, with 11 points, and Cook, with nine points, did give the Northstars most of its offensive production. F-M, by contrast, had 10 different players get on the board, led by Alexis Schneider, who had 11 points and three assists, and Alexandra Vinci, who had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
