Now that it had made it through December unblemished, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team was reclaiming its place among the state’s elite programs.

Further proof of that was found in the first state Class AA programs of the new year, which put the Northstars at no. 5 just before it faced Corcoran last Wednesday night and took apart the Cougars in a 68-20 romp.

This was a vintage C-NS effort, with suffocating and effective defense on one end and plenty of production on the other end, led by Amani Free, whose 21 points topped the entire Corcoran roster.

Mackenzie White stepped up and set a career mark with 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Brandi Feeney had seven points, with Morgan Siechen getting six points. Jessica Cook and Julia Rowe had five points apiece.

Meanwhile, Liverpool met up with West Genesee for the first time since last March’s Section III Class AA final, and once again the Warriors were upended by the Wildcats, this time in a 52-43 decision.

What made this result so frustrating was that, for much of the first half, Liverpool’s defense did a terrific job shutting down WG’s sister tandem of Mackenzie and Madison Smith, ultimately gaining a 15-9 lead early in the second quarter.

But the Wildcats’ Mya Case turned it around, scoring 10 straight points to put her team in front for good. Then, throughout the second half, any time the Warriors threatened to catch up, WG had a timely answer.

Mackenzie Smith scored all 11 of her points in the second half as Madison Smith finished with 15 points. For the Warriors, Kyra Grimshaw led with 12 points as Lexi Emmi had 11 points and Jenna Wike got nine points.

Prior to that game, Liverpoool  played  twice during the “Hoops for the Hospital” Tournament on. Looking to bounce back from the Dec. 22 loss to C-NS, the Warriors played at Fayetteville-Manlius on Dec. 29 and proved something in the course of a 50-47 victory over the Hornets.

Liverpool trailed 24-20 at halftime, and what was more, F-M was doing a terrific job containing Wike, who would get held without a field goal for the first time in her varsity career.

Despite this, the Warriors still outscored the Hornets 22-12 in the third quarter and moved in front for good. Grimshaw rebounded from her rough game against C-NS to get 19 points and eight rebounds.

Lexi Emmi helped out, too, getting 10 points and four steals as Holly Sleeth also had four steals, plus five points. Amanda Barnell had six points and four rebounds as Wike got five rebounds. Lexy Gray led F-M with 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks.

Moving to SRC Arena on Dec. 30, Liverpool faced Rochester Mercy (Section V), and had a late lead, but could not hang on as it lost, 64-62, to the Monarchs.

Grimshaw again made big plays, notching six straight points during a fourth-quarter burst that gave Liverpool a 54-49 lead. Mercy countered with a 12-3 run and took the lead for good, though it needed a trio of late free throws from Leah Koonmen to hang on.

All game long, Monarchs guard Traiva Breedlove gave the Warriors trouble as she finished with 27 points, eight of them in that decisive fourth-quarter run. This helped overcome Grimshaw’s season-best total of 25 points as Wike earned 16 points, Barnell 12 points and Emmi nine points.

Both Liverpool and C-NS would take on Baldwinsville this week after the Bees, 8-0 going into January, suffered its first loss of the season last Wednesday against Nottingham, a team the Northstars were set to face last Friday before it got snowed out, along with Liverpool’s game against Corcoran.