Much of the girls basketball Section III Class AA semifinal Sunday at SRC Arena between Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool was closely fought and intense, with lively exchanges and exceptional performances from the star players on both sides.
It just didn’t start that way.
And because the top-seeded Northstars dominated on both ends during the first quarter, the Warriors couldn’t fully recover from it, C-NS eventually prevailing 66-53 to augment its two regular-season wins in this long-time rivalry.
Those earlier games had featured long stretches where Liverpool, despite its best effort, couldn’t produce much in the face of the intense pressure C-NS threw at them.
Here, it happened at the outset, with the Warriors held to a single field goal in the first 5 1/2 minutes and unable to match the energy of the Northstars.
Most of all, it was freshman forward Jessica Cook proving too difficult to contain, Cook earning eight of C-NS’s first 14 points and opening up chances for teammate Amani Free, who added six points.
The first quarter ended with the Northstars on top 20-7, but from that point forward, the Warriors regrouped and spent the rest of the game looking to make up that lost ground.
Having settled down, the Warriors were in the process of climbing back into the game when Cook, in the last minute of the second quarter, knocked down Jenna Wike in a scramble under the basket.
Wike had to be helped off the court and was unhappy with Cook’s actions. So were the Warriors, who got back-to-back baskets from Kyra Grimshaw and Holly Sleeth and got within single digits, only trailing 28-19 at the break.
The intense exchange continued throughout the second half, but it proved frustrating on the Warriors’ part. Grimshaw, who finished with 25 points, and Wike, who had 18 points, continually made plays that, against most opponents, would have created a real winning opportunity.
C-NS always answered it, though, whether it was with Free constantly stretching the defense and finishing off plays on her way to matching Grimshaw’s total of 25 points or Cook controlling the paint as she gained 22 points.
And it leads to the sectional final most had expected between the Northstars and defending champion West Genesee, who used a 31-5 mid-game surge to power past Baldwinsville 66-53 in the other semifinal.
The two games between C-NS and the Wildcats in the regular season were split, each side prevailing at home, though WG’s win came with Free out of the lineup.
