Whether the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team earned the Salt City Athletic Conference Metro division regular-season title outright, or had to share it, would all hinge on Thursday night’s showdown with Baldwinsville.
To stay in first place, the state Class AA no. 12-ranked Northstars first had to get through Tuesday’s trip to West Genesee, but arrived with a 10-game win streak.
Perhaps most impressive about C-NS was the way it earned its ninth win in a row last Tuesday, jumping all over Fayetteville-Manlius in a 54-32 victory while its leading scorer, Jessica Cook, was out of the lineup.
Burning to prove that it could handle a quality opponent short-handed, C-NS dominated the opening minutes, its defense forcing a string of Hornets turnovers and easy baskets on the other end.
Up 22-3 after one period, the Northstars cruised through the rest of the game, Julia Rowe earning 15 points and Alita Carey-Santangelo adding 12 points. Gabby Hillman and Abbee Norris had six points apiece.
And all of this took place after one of the finest players in C-NS history, McKayla Roberts, made some history.
While scoring 22 points in Le Moyne College’s 63-54 win over St. Anselm on Feb. 1, Roberts surpassed Jennifer Shea and became the Dolphins’ all-time leading scorer.
Four nights later in a game against College of St. Rose, Roberts set another mark for the most 3-pointers in Northeast-10 Conference history.
It was Liverpool that would have its own trip to Baldwinsville last Tuesday night, and the state AA no. 14-ranked Bees proved too tough as it handled the Warriors 80-49.
Just like C-NS did against F-M, B’ville would pull far away from Liverpool early, building a 27-5 lead by the time the first quarter ended.
Trying to recover, the Warriors did get 16 points from Naveah Wingate and 11 points from Melaina Nappa. Victoria Morgan, returning to the lineup, had seven points, as did Karlyssa Shifflett.
B’ville utilized its depth quite well, seeing Ola Bednarczyk put up 18 points as teammates Hannah Mimas and Jordan Roy got 11 points apiece.
Friday’s snows postponed both Liverpool’s game against Nottingham and C-NS’s against Corcoran. Both would need to get made up to go with the Northstars’ Tuesday trip to West Genesee as the Warriors also meet Henninger and Section V’s Victor this week.
Liverpool did play Saturday against Norwich (Section IV) and lost 67-57 to the Purple Tornado, the Warriors’ overall record falling to 5-12.
