TROY – Six years had passed since the Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team played in a state Class AA tournament game, so waiting another 24 hours due to a winter snowstorm wasn’t so bad.
And having to play four extra minutes didn’t bother the Northstars, either, as it rallied to force overtime and then, led by the clutch play and career-best 28 points of Alita Carey-Santangelo, defeated Albany 62-60 in Sunday’s regional final at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy.
Of all the games C-NS has waged in state tournaments in seasons past, few surpassed this one for the tension that was inherent from opening tip to final buzzer.
Twice, Carey-Santangelo came up big, tying it at the end of regulation and then, with the game even again at 60-60 and the clock winding down in the four-minute OT period, the ball was in her hands again.
Despite the Falcons’ defense trying to stop her, Carey-Santangelo drove and hit the go-ahead shot, then watched as Albany missed a chance to answer.
The clock hit zero, and C-NS had earned a return trip to HVCC this Friday at 3:15 to face Long Island champion Baldwin in the state Class AA semifinal. Whoever wins that game gets Corning or Bishop Kearney in Saturday’s 7 p.m. title game.
Getting to another state final four required C-NS to display poise and persistence turning back a Falcons side who could not put the game away late, and ultimately paid for it.
At the outset, the game had a quick pace to it, which Albany initially had success with, outscoring the Northstars and inching into an 18-14 lead by the end of the first quarter.
C-NS turned it around in a hurry, though. Putting together one of its best stretches of the season, the Northstars outscored the Falcons 21-10 in the second period, mostly led by the duo of Carey-Santangelo and Alexa Kulakowski.
Now with a 35-28 advantage at the break, C-NS would spend the third quarter protecting that advantage as Albany staged its own rally, steadily cutting the margin until the Northstars took a 44-42 edge to the final period.
It stayed close and tense throughout the final period, C-NS mostly staying in front but unable to rebuild the advantage it had earned earlier in the game.
By the final minute, the Northstars clung to a 53-52 edge. During a scramble for the ball, the Falcons were able to claim possession. Then it worked the clock until, with 20.6 seconds left, a missed shot was rebounded back in by Shonyae Edmonds.
Now trailing 54-53, C-NS could not keep Albany from forcing a turnover. Fouling with 15.1 seconds left, the Northstars watched as freshman Azera Gates made one of her two free throws.
Again with a chance at the last shot, C-NS went right to Carey-Santangelo, who converted the tying basket to make it 55-55. Then the Northstars got a steal and a chance to take the lead, but missed and saw the Falcons miss its own chance to win the game at the regulation horn.
So now there was four minutes of OT. Just like through much of the game, there was no separation in the extra period, C-NS inching back in front but only up two, 60-58, with time winding down.
Carey-Santangelo, with a chance at two clinching free throws with 11.6 seconds left, missed them both. Albany drove down, took a shot and then grabbed the rebound. Edmonds was fouled, and she made both attempts.
That led to redemption for Carey-Santangelo – and C-NS keeping alive its chances to add a third state title to the ones the Breanna Stewart-led sides accomplished in 2011 and 2012.
Helping out Carey-Santangelo, Kulakowski finished with 24 points as that duo, along with Sydney Nesci (six points), accounted for all but two of C-NS’s field goals, the others going to Kathleen McRobbie-Taru.
