In their own ways, the girls basketball teams at Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool enter the 2019-20 season with intense hunger and quite aware of the challenges ahead.
For the Northstars, the main task is simple – dislodge West Genesee and reclaim its place atop the area Class AA ranks. Having most of its roster back, including top forwards Jessica Cook and Julia Rowe, helps in that effort.
Knowing how consistent Cook and Rowe are in the paint, all of the C-NS players have said that, if it can find some consistent outside shooting, it could really be tough to beat.
All of those elements were on display for C-NS in last Thursday’s opener, a 74-16 romp over Henninger that served as a tune-up for much tougher games on the weekend in the Albany area.
Up against Shenendehowa on Saturday afternoon, the Northstars met a severe challenge and could not get past it, falling 80-46 to the Plainsmen.
Cook gained 20 points and newcomer Alita Carey-Santagelo added 13 points, but Rowe was kept off the board and Shen was unstoppable in the first half, roaring to a 46-24 advantage.
Following that, C-NS challenged Class A powerhouse Averill Park on Sunday afternoon at Shen, AP had already defeated Jamesville-DeWitt the day before, avenging six straight defeats to the Red Rams in Class A regional finals dating back to 2014.
Not letting down at all, AP then beat the Northstars 54-42 behind 23 points from Anna Jankovic and 18 points from Kelsey Wood, meaning that C-NS was 1-2 with just its Tuesday game with Nottingham left before a trip to a large holiday national tournament in Arizona late this month.
Liverpool’s challenge is a different one. The reconstruction of the high school gymnasium means most of the Warriors’ “home” games will take place at Onondaga Community College’s Allyn Hall.
However, for last Tuesday’s season opener against Rochester Mercy (Section V), Liverpool played at Le Moyne College’s Henninger Athletic Center, where it lost, 53-35, to the Monarchs.
Held to just 10 points in the first half, Liverpool did improve as the game went on, even though Mercy maintained its comfortable lead. Victoria Morgan led with 12 points, while freshman Naveah Wingate had nine points and Karlyssa Shiflett had six points.
From there, the Warriors went to Corcoran on Friday for its SCAC Metro division opener. The Cougars are now coached by one-time great Camille Murphy, who replaced the retiring Jim Marsh.
None of this fazed Liverpool, who got its first win of the season by putting away Corcoran 52-30. Holding the Cougars to a single free throw in the first quarter, the Warriors then got its attack going.
During the last two periods, Liverpool outscored Corcoran 31-11, with Shiflett earning 13 points as Sarah Miles got 11 points and Jim’Marya Hunter contributed 10 points. Morgan helped out with six points.
