From an experience standpoint, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team’s pre-Christmas trip to Orlando, Florida was a special one, with plenty of bonding and other great experiences.
However, the basketball part was challenging, the Northstars only taking one of three games from Dec. 20-22 in the KSA Tournament at the Disney Wide World of Sports.
There wasn’t too much time to regroup because, a week later, C-NS was on the road again, this time east to the Amsterdam Tournament, where it roared back to form .
In the Dec. 27 opener, C-NS faced Bethlehem (Section II) and prevailed 53-38 over the Eagles, a game where it trailed 28-23 at halftime before its defense stifled Bethlehem throughout the second half.
Taking the lead just before the third quarter ended, the Northstars closed on a 16-3 push as Jessica Cook gained 17 points. Julia Rowe and Mackenzie White each had 11 points, White hitting on three 3-pointers as Morgan Siechen finished with six points.
A day later, it was C-NS against Amherst, a Section VI school from the Buffalo suburbs, who showed its strength by taking control early and never letting up as it handed the Northstars a 60-46 loss.
Held to six points in the first quarter, C-NS was playing from behind the entire afternoon, and even when it did put together some scoring runs, the Tigers answered them.
Cook thrived in the paint, scoring 16 points, but Rowe got held to three points, something the rest of the C-NS squad could not overcome as Isabella Kingsley managed 11 points and Siechen gained seven points.
Liverpool had its own action on Dec. 28 when it hosted Webster Thomas (Section V) in the opening part of the “Hoops for the Hospital” Tournament.
The Warriors lost, 63-51, to the Titans, who jumped out 15-6 in the opening period and generally spent the rest of the game fending off all of Liverpool’s attempts to catch up.
Amanda Barnell led that effort, putting up 19 points for Liverpool as Karlyssa Shifflett hit three 3-pointers to account for most of her 13 points. Lexi Emmi finished with six points.
Then it was on to SRC Arena on Dec. 29 for a game against Syracuse Academy of Science, a state Class C finalist in 2018 moved up to the Class B ranks who lost 62-53 to Ithaca the day before.
SAS humbled the Warriors 75-50, the Atoms building a 57-34 lead through three quarters as Freey Pleasants had a triple-double of 13 rebounds, 10 points and 10 assists, with Aniyah Powell getting 21 points and Xyel Bradford adding 19 points and seven steals.
While Liverpool had a difficult time keeping up with the variety that SAS threw at them, Victoria Morgan still finished with 15 points, including three-pointers, with Barnell getting 11 points and Shifflett adding 10 points.
Two more games followed in the opening days of 2019, Liverpool going to Auburn last Wednesday and having the lead late, but unable to hold on in a 71-63 defeat to the Maroons.
Through three quarters, the Warriors were ahead 47-43, seeing Shifflett hit six 3-pointers to account for all of her career-best 18 points as Barnell put in 15 points, Morgan had 11 points and Laya Ashkar got nine points.
Auburn caught fire late, though, outscoring Liverpool 28-16 in the final period as Stephanie Gera, who finished with 18 points, crossed the 1,000-point career mark with lots of help from Marlee Solomon, who had 23 points and 10 rebounds.
Two nights later, hosting Fayetteville-Manlius, Liverpool rebounded, edging the Hornets 43-40 in a game where it protected a slim lead most of the night.
The Warriors held F-M to just six points in the fourth quarter to thwart any possible comeback. Morgan led with 13 points, helped by Shifflett and Lexi Emmi, who had nine points apiece.
Finally back in league play on that same Friday night, C-NS hosted Henninger and bashed the Black Knights 69-28, with Cook getting 19 points and Rowe adding 12 points. Alexandra Miller stepped up with nine points, Kingsley adding seven points and Aniah Ingram six points.
