Down two starters, trailing for most of the first half, every excuse was lined up for the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team to suffer its first defeat of the season at the expense of Baldwinsville Tuesday night.
Except that, when it counted the most, the Northstars’ defense played at its best, and big production from sources likely (Amani Free) and unlikely (Alexandra Miller) keyed a 58-43 victory over the Bees.
C-NS entered the night 7-0 and no. 5 in the state Class AA rankings. B’ville was 8-0 before taking a 57-49 defeat to Nottingham Jan. 3, and the Northstars knew the Bees would, in response, play with energy and fire.
Already, C-NS was without an injured Aniah Ingram, but things got worse when 6-foot-2 freshman forward Jessica Cook, the Northstars’ most dangerous inside presence, went down with an injury midway through the first quarter.
Though Cook left the court without assistance, and was walking afterward, she did not play the rest of the game, forcing C-NS to go deeper into its bench than usual.
Meanwhile, the Bees attacked hard. Thanks to 10 first-half points from Claire McAllister and nine points from Katie Pascale, B’ville kept the lead and was up, 27-23, going to the break.
Two things happened to change the course of events. C-NS got a boost from reserve guard Alexandra Miller, whose four 3-pointers led to a career-best 14 points that took pressure off other players.
At the same time, the Northstars’ defense picked up its intensity, sparking a 12-0 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters as B’ville went without a point for more than eight minutes.
Free finished things off, notching 19 of her 29 points in the second half. Mackenzie White finished with seven points. Combined, Pascale and McAllister managed just seven points in those last two periods.
B’ville would next take on Liverpool, who on Tuesday night had completed a regular-season sweep of Fayetteville-Manlius, prevailing by a 57-44 margin over the Hornets.
Having won a tight 50-47 decision at F-M less than two weeks earlier, the Warriors were attempting to bounce back from a Jan. 3 loss to West Genesee, and did so despite all kinds of ups and downs.
A 17-8 run through the second quarter got Liverpool in front, only to have the Hornets counter with a 15-7 push led by Lexie Roe, who led all scorers with 23 points.
Thus, it was 33-32 going to the final period, when the Warriors got away for good, pushed there by Jenna Wike, who finished with 20 points and six rebounds. Kyra Grimshaw added 16 points, also getting six rebounds and providing the second option F-M lacked next to Roe. Lexi Emmi added eight points.
This gave Liverpool some momentum going to B’ville, but it didn’t hold up as an intense, physical battle went 58-44 in the Bees’ favor.
Ultimately, the Warriors could not overcome its first-half struggles as the Bees steadily gained a 33-21 lead. All through the last two quarters, Liverpool tried to eat into the deficit, but could not do so.
Wike and Grimshaw each finished with 12 points, while Emmi had seven points and Bella Barner got six points. On B’ville’s side, Jenna Costello had 16 points, with Carolyn Brussel getting 12 points, 13 rebounds, five steals, five blocks and three assists. Pascale had 12 points, six assists and five rebounds.
While that went on, C-NS won at Henninger 60-38, a margin made a bit deceptive by the fact that the Northstars bolted out to a 23-5 lead by the end of the first quarter and were up 41-13 by halftime.
Miller continued to make big contributions, earning 13 points to complement Free’s 21 points. Nia Williams stepped up on this night, getting nine points as Julia Rowe earned eight points and Mackenzie White got seven points.
