Now the Cicero-North Syracuse and West Genesee girls basketball teams are on even terms in this 2018-19 season, with a likelihood that one more decisive chapter remains.
With a tremendous fourth-quarter effort on both ends, the Northstars prevailed 56-45 Tuesday night in Camillus, avenging a 55-52 overtime defeat to those same Wildcats a month earlier.
What made the difference was C-NS’s defense, which, down the stretch, stifled the state Class AA no. 13-ranked Wildcats right after surrendering a lead it had held most of the way.
The first task for the Northstars was containing WG’s 1,000-point scorer, Madison Smith, and it did so, holding her without a point in the first half, even as her sister, Mackenzie Smith, was putting up 14 of her eventual total of 19 points.
Meanwhile, C-NS benefited from having sophomore forward Julia Rowe in the lineup, something that wasn’t the case back in December. Rowe’s presence in the paint complemented Jessica Cook and made the Northstars difficult to deal with in the paint.
Despite all this, though, WG followed the script of that OT win at C-NS, falling behind 21-11 in the second quarter, but steadily eating away at that deficit through the game’s middle stages.
Aleysha Castanon, filling the role of surprise contributor that Catie Cunningham played a month ago, poured in 11 points, all in the second half. And it was Castanon’s 3-pointer that pushed the Wildcats in front 44-41 with 6:50 left.
That was WG’s last field goal. C-NS head coach Eric Smith said the key the Northstars’ defensive performance was keeping the Wildcats from driving to the basket, forcing them into long-range shots or creating turnovers.
Rowe’s basket with four minutes left gave C-NS the lead for good, and she had five points in the Northstars’ decisive 15-0 run. Cook tacked on five points, giving her 21 for the night, and Morgan Siechen’s 3-pointer with 2:04 left was another key blow.
Given the gaps seen this season between C-NS, West Genesee and the rest of the Class AA contenders, the odds that these two could have a third meeting in the Section III playoffs are quite good.
However, one side playing well was Liverpool, and WG would host them Thursday night, knowing that the Warriors had improved plenty from the side the Wildcats handled 55-34 early this season.
Just how much improvement was evident all night long, Liverpool relying on hot outside shooting to lead for long stretches, but unable to contain the Wildcats late as WG rallied to prevail 64-58.
Much of the night, the story was how Liverpool kept getting open outside looks and kept converting. Victoria Morgan hit five 3-pointers on her way to 21 points overall as most of Lexi Emmi’s 20 points came from four 3-pointers.
All of this helped the Warriors take the lead in the second quarter and keep it until the final period, when Madison Smith, eager to bounce back from her struggles against C-NS, led the Wildcats back.
Not letting up until the wire, Smith had 26 points, and got plenty of help from Cunningham, who got 13 points, and Kaitlyn Walker, who had 10 points. Meredith James managed eight points and Abby Bednarski added six points.
After a week to rest, WG (11-3) is back in action for next Friday’s game at Fayetteville-Manlius.
