ONONDAGA COUNTY – Nearly 12 months had passed since the Baldwinsville girls basketball team saw its Section III Class AA championship dreams thwarted by Cicero-North Syracuse in the title game at Onondaga Community College.
In this abbreviated follow-up of a 2021 season, the Bees and Northstars were both undefeated as they faced each other for the only time Tuesday night at Baker High School gym.
And for most of the game, these two sides would trade runs and swap the lead until a fourth quarter where C-NS, excelling in all phases of the game, once again got the best of B’ville, prevailing 65-54.
All through a back-and-forth first half, the Bees would lean on guard Sydney Huhtala, who kept making outside shots despite considerable pressure from Northstars defenders.
Largely on the basis of a trio of 3-pointers, Huhtala earned most of her 23 points in those first two periods, constantly answering whenever C-NS turned to its most reliable scoring threat, Jessica Cook.
Thus, despite Cook’s 13 points, the Bees three times erased deficits during the second quarter and, by halftime, had forged a 30-30 tie.
B’ville opened the second half on 10-4 run to earn its biggest lead, but C-NS turned it around and they were even again, 44-44, by the time the third quarter ended.
Here, the Northstars cranked up its half-court defense, forcing poor B’ville shots along with a rash of turnovers while, on the other end, Alexa Kulakowski and Kathleen Taru both hit a pair of 3-pointers.
From the time it trailed 40-34, C-NS outscored the Bees 27-8, balancing between Cook, who finished with 22 points, and the backcourt as Kulakowski got 18 points, Taru 10 points and Alita Carey-Santangelo seven points. For B’ville, Hannah Mimas got 12 points and Ola Bednarczyk had 10 points.
As for B’ville’s boys basketball team, it lost 74-46 to C-NS last Tuesday, with much of the margin built in a first half where the Northstars bolted out to a 42-22 advantage.
Ben Bifulco still had 16 points, including a trio of 3-pointers, as James Brussel got eight points and Colin Doyle had seven points. C-NS got 19 points from Luke Paragon, 15 points from Brian Bonin and 13 points from Noah Wieczorek.
Things did not improve on Friday, B’ville taking a 48-31 defeat to Henninger as its record fell to 1-5 in advance of games this week against Corcoran and Liverpool.
