ONONDAGA COUNTY – If once again the Cicero-North Syracuse and Liverpool girls basketball teams have a post-season encounter, it will prove a tie-breaker following a pair of encounters where each side won once.
The Northstars atoned for a 55-48 January defeat by prevailing 49-44 in a physical, hard-fought rematch Saturday at its refurbished home gym where relentless defense and well-timed baskets made the difference.
All through the last three years C-NS met with frustration against Liverpool both in the regular season and in two playoff showdowns, including the 2024 Section III Class AAA final.
So it had to feel good for the Northstars not just to win, but to do so in the way it did, starting strong, withstanding a mid-game drought and then making the necessary plays down the stretch.
Not only did C-NS start out with a 13-2 lead, Liverpool had to deal with its top scorer, A’briyah Cunningham, taking a bad step on the game’s opening possession which briefly sent her to the bench. Already Liverpool was without one of its starters, Gia Kinsey, injured earlier in the week in her team’s 58-35 win over Baldwinsville.
Cunningham returned, but for the rest of the game she had to battle for every opportunity as first Jilly Howell, then Liv Cook defended her, limiting her touches and holding her to 11 points.
Liverpool’s Gracie Sleeth nearly made up for this, hitting on 16 points in the first half and bringing her team back to briefly go in front in the second quarter before it settled into a defensive stalemate which lasted until the final period.
Even though Howell fouled out with more than four minutes to play the Northstars kept its poise, Grace Villnave answering a Gianna Washington 3-pointer with one of her own that gave C-NS the lead for good with 3:11 left.
An even bigger 3-pointer by Leah Benedict with less than two minutes left made it 45-39, and though Liverpool would cut the margin to three in the final minute Benedict hit a trio of free throws to seal it.
All told, Benedict had a game-high 23 points, spreading her production out as Sleeth, despite finishing with 21 points, was blanked in the fourth quarter. Villnave added 14 points.
Liverpool arrived at this regular-season finale at 17-2 and no. 13 in the state Class AAA rankings after its clean sweep of Baldwinsville, completed Monday night at Baker High School.
Back home after losing 53-32 at Liverpool on Feb. 7, the Bees this time were in catch-up mode from the outset, the relentless Liverpool defense holding it to less than double-digit points in each of the first three quarters.
Focused and not looking ahead to C-NS, Liverpool built a margin of 48-23 by the fourth quarter, ultimately keeping every B’ville player other than Olivia Davis (10 points) from netting more than four points.
And though the Bees did contain Cunningham well and limited her to 10 points, Washington made up for it landing 20 points and Angie Kohler earned 11 points. Kinsey contributed seven points before her injury.
Rebounding from its Feb. 7 defeat to Rochester Aquinas, C-NS, no. 15 in the state Class AAA poll, put together a fine all-around performance against Henninger last Tuesday night, topping the Black Knights 56-33.
A 17-7 start got C-NS well out in front and it again held Henninger to seven points in the second quarter, with the margin continuing to grow the rest of the night.
Villnave continued her late-season surge in production, getting 17 points in the paint as Benedict earned most of her 16 points from four 3-pointers. Meadow Werts contributed eight points.
An even bigger win followed against Liverpool, sending C-NS with a lot of momentum toward games next week against Bishop Ludden and Marcellus before the sectional playoffs get underway.
