Perhaps because of its late-game struggles and last-second defeat to Baldwinsville on Jan. 29, the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team put a particular emphasis on taking out each of its remaining opponents without leaving any doubts.
And that included a solid team from Nottingham, who got run over by the Northstars last Tuesday night as, with one of its best efforts of the season, C-NS bashed the Bulldogs 69-37.
Though it was playing for the fourth time in eight days, the Northstars remembered how Nottingham had pushed them in a 53-44 decision when they first met on Jan. 8, and didn’t want to let it get that close again.
From the outset, C-NS played at a high level, with a smothering defense that forced bad shots and turnovers. Eventually, it led to plenty of baskets on the other end, especially in a 24-8 surge through the second quarter.
Up 42-14 at halftime, the Northstars relied plenty on its sophomore forward tandem of Jessica Cook and Julia Rowe, Cook getting 24 points and Rowe adding 17 points as Brandi Feeney got 10 points.
Now C-NS, sitting at no. 15 in the state Class AA rankings, hosted a much-improved Fayetteville-Manlius side it handled 51-22 back in January, but didn’t care much about that fact.
Again, the Northstars rolled past the Hornets, 64-36 this time around, doing all of the damage in the first three quarters as it built a 59-31 margin and put four players in double figures.
Cook gained 23 points and Rowe, with 16 points, was close behind. Adding further depth, Morgan Siechen threw in 11 points, mostly through a trio of 3-pointers, and Feeney had 11 points.
Liverpool, coming off a Feb. 1 defeat to F-M, returned home last Tuesday night and had an impressive effort against Henninger, earning a 51-38 victory over the Black Knights.
Henninger did not get to double digits on the scoreboard until the third quarter, by which point the Warriors had a comfortable lead, one that it protected through consistent production to go with its defense.
Amanda Barnell again led with 14 points, but three other Liverpool players hit double figures as Laya Ashkar had a career-best 10 points, with Lexi Emmi and Lindsay Toper also producing 10 points.
From there, the Warriors moved on to its own game with Nottingham on Friday, needing to beat them to clinch a winning record in Nicole DeRose’s first season as head coach.
And Liverpool got it by the smallest of margins, edging the Bulldogs 56-55 in a game close the entire way, with the Warriors using strong work in the middle stages t move in front 46-43 and then hang on right until the final possession.
Barnell’s 18 points included six crucial free throws, with Morgan getting five of her 13 points at the foul line. Neveah Wingate had eight points and Karylssa Shifflett contributed six points as Liverpool overcame 21 points from Nottingham’s Amaya Williams and 16 points from Jakiya Howard.
