Cicero-North Syracuse tightened its grip on the top of Section III girls basketball's Metro Division on Friday night, holding on to beat Baldwinsville, 52-51.
The Northstars never led by more than five points in the second half. A last-second Baldwinsville shot missed wide.
Sydney Huhtala boosted the Bees with 12 of her team-high 19 points in the second half.
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"We fought hard," Baldwinsville coach Kathy Morse said. "Unfortunately, we missed too many layups inside when it really counted and we didn't rebound the ball like we should've."
Alexa Kulakowski led C-NS with 22 points, including three 3-pointers. The senior guard has scored double-digit points in three of her last four games.
"Alexa is shooting very well on the season," C-NS coach Rob Siechen said. "It's great to get her open looks, and we were able to get her a couple of them."
Baldwinsville scored the first seven points of the night and successfully trapped the Northstars with double-teams and half-court pressure. Kyrah Wilbur scored nine of Baldwinsville's 15 points in the first quarter and the Bees led 15-11.
"Our start wasn't very good. We didn't do anything we practiced coming into tonight," Siechen said. "We threw the ball away a couple of times early. Once we settled in and started to get shots we were OK." When C-NS couldn't penetrate the inside of the Bees' defense, they looked outside from behind the three-point line. Three different Northstars hit from deep for five 3-pointers in total. Siechen said Baldwinsville's length and active defense gave the Northstars early problems offensively.
"(The Bees) take the most obvious pass away so you got to do something that you're not traditionally used to doing," Siechen said. "We want to drive and kick. If it's a three or a lay-up, it doesn't matter. Just looking for the best available shot."
Kulakowski and Alita Carey-Santangelo scored nine and 13 second-half points for the Northstars, respectively, finishing as C-NS' two leading scorers.
The Northstars (5-1, 5-0 SCAC) have now taken their last three meetings against the Bees (6-3, 2-1 SCAC). Cicero-North Syracuse, who opened this season with a home loss to Bishop Ludden, had not lost a home game since Dec. 2019 before that.
The two schools will play again on Feb. 4 at Baldwinsville.
