CENTRAL NEW YORK – For more than a week and through two weather postponements the Cicero-North Syracuse boys basketball team sat on the disappointment of its first defeat of the season to Utica Proctor on Dec. 30.

When it finally cleared up enough for the Northstars to host Corcoran last Wednesday night, the winning resumed in an emphatic way as, with a season-best performance from Andrew Benedict, C-NS put away the Cougars 82-47.

That single defeat dropped the Northstars to no. 24 in the latest state Class AAA rankings, but the first half produced a performance far more similar to the five wins C-NS put together to start the season.

Aggressive on both ends, the Northstars broke through Corcoran’s defenses and nearly doubled it output on the way to establishing a 50-26 advantage by the break.

And the margin kept growing, Benedict converting on 16 field goals, four of them 3-pointers, and finishing with 37 points to nearly equal the entire Cougars roster.

Nate Francis wasn’t quiet, either, pouring in 16 points as Sam Werts earned 12 points and Larry Nesci six points. Abdi Gosar paced Corcoran with 14 points.

A trip to Henninger was next on Friday night, and here C-NS really broke out, almost making it to the century mark but ultimately putting away the Black Knights 99-55.

Any doubts about the game were erased when the Northstars netted 31 points in a red-hot first quarter. By halftime it was 56-22 and the only suspense the rest of the way was seeing if C-NS could get to 100.

By the time that quest ended, Benedict was on the bench, having poured in 26 points and nearly matched by Francis thanks to 25 points, nearly half of it from four 3-pointers.

Miy’Jon McDowell broke out, earning 18 points, while Brennan Tyler managed eight points and Nesci again finished with six points.

Meanwhile, the snows kept Liverpool, idle since a Dec. 22 win over Nisakyuna, from returning to action last Tuesday against Fayetteville-Manlius, which was rescheduled for Jan. 21.