Strong starts by the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool girls basketball teams added more weight to the first of their two head-to-head showdowns in the first week of 2022.
Back on Dec. 23, the Northstars went to Fayetteville-Manlius and got shut out in the second quarter, but with a late surge it was able to rally and beat the Hornets 39-38.
Hot early shooting gave C-NS an 18-13 lead, but then it never got any points in the second period, which allowed F-M to dart to a 24-18 advantage.
Though the scoring drought ended in the third period, the Northstars didn’t really find its rhythm again until the fourth quarter, when a series of basketa allowed it to catch up and overtake the Hornets.
Hanging on to win it, C-NS saw Alita Carey-Santangelo lead the way with 16 points as she and Alexa Kulakowski, who had 13 points, accounted for most of the production, though Sydney Nesci added six points. Ava Angello (15 points) and Lauren Clark (10 points) paced F-M.
Contrasting this was what Liverpool accomplished in its game against Henninger that same night, with the Warriors dominating the Black Knights and prevailing 63-33.
Even with Henninger sporting a 4-1 record (the lone defeat to C-NS), the Warriors controlled matters on both ends, steadily working its way to a 39-16 halftime lead.
Naveah Wingate nearly matched the Black Knights by herself, earning 27 points and 15 rebounds, while Gianna Washington managed a career-best nine steals to go with her seven points as Julia Wike got nine points and Jakeira Stackhouse got eight points.
Then, going to the Shenendehowa Holiday Tournament, Liverpool ran into the host Plainsmen in Wednesday’s opening round and took a 63-33 defeat, with Wingate (13 points) and Washington (nine points) accounting for most of the offense.
Turning it around less than 24 hours later, the Warriors fought its way past Niskayuna 45-38 to salvage a split from its tournament appearance and improve to 4-2 overall.
Leading most of the way, Liverpool never let Niskayuna get close late as, again, much hinged on Wingate, and she stepped up to earn 18 points. Washington, with 10 points, also got to double figures as Mia Berthoff and Janea Hamilton-Brown contributed six points apiece.
