CENTRAL NEW YORK – When they came into 2024, the Liverpool and Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball teams had different things to prove.
In the Warriors’ case, it simply wanted to reinforce its status as the large-school team to beat, though a big test of it would come Tuesday night when Baldwinsville showed up carrying a 9-2 record.
With the Northstars, though, it involved showing that it could absorb the lessons handed out during back-to-back defeats in the Albany area in games played Dec. 27 and 28.
Against Albany Academy, no. 2 in the state Class B rankings, C-NS lost 62-41, a reality not made up by the return of two starters, Grace Villnave and Olivia Cook, to the lineup after both missed part or all of a Dec. 22 win over Bishop Ludden.
A close game broke open when AA outscored C-NS 19-5 in the third quarter as Kat McRobbie-Taru had 11 points and Jillie Howell 10 points, with Cook and Leah Benedict each getting seven points.
Difficult as this was, Averill Park proved even tougher. AP bolted out 23-6 in the first quarter and the Northstars never could recover from that start, ultimately taking a 58-34 defeat.
AP centered its defense on McRobbie-Taru and held her to a season-low seven points. Benedict led with nine points as Cook got seven points and Howell added five points.
All this left the Northstars at 4-3 going into last Wednesday’s game against 1-8 Fayetteville-Manlius, a chance to rebound in a big way – which is exactly what C-NS did, routing the Hornets 67-23.
It proved a special night for Meadow Werts, who converted five 3-pointers and, with 25 points overall, more than doubled her previous personal best and outscored the entire F-M roster. Benedict, Howell and Kylah Bednar helped with eight points apiece.
Though it expected to get tougher Friday against visiting Central Square, no. 15 in the state Class AA rankings, the Northstars again were dominant on the way to beating the Redhawks 76-36.
Wasting no time, C-NS jumped out 22-4 by the end of the first quarter and spent the rest of the night adding to that margin, this time led by Benedict, who got more than half her 20 points from four 3-pointers, and Cook, who had 16 points. McRobbie-Taru (12 points) and Werts (10 points) also got to double figures.
Liverpool, meanwhile, found itself no. 7 in the state Class AAA rankings when, in its first game since returning from its 2-1 run in Orlando, Florida, had its own lopsided effort against Auburn, doubling up the Maroons 78-39.
Having scrimmaged during its 12-day break between games, the Warriors were still quite sharp, as Auburn quickly found out in a first half when Liverpool steadily built a 42-18 advantage.
In top gear, A’briyah Cunningham finished with 25 points, joined in double figures by Gracie Sleeth, with 13 points, and Giselle Cruz, with 10 points. Angelina Kohler got nine points as Kaylyn Sweeney and Maura Woods had seven points apiece.
Then came Friday night’s game at West Genesee, the Wildcats having seen its head coach, Mariah Lamas, lead her team to win over East Syracuse Minoa last Wednesday – and then, the very next morning, give birth to a baby boy.
Against a WG side under the direction of assistant coach Jason Dudzinski, the Warriors again controlled matters on both ends of the floor and prevailed, 73-49, with Cunningham improving her total to 27 points. Sleeth earned 13 points, with Kohler and Gianna Washington getting nine points apiece.
