Cicero-North Syracuse and Section IV's Ithaca battled for a majority of their non-league contest Thursday evening.
In the end, the Northstars used a strong fourth quarter to take care of the Little Red by a score of 65-55.
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"In the second half, we took care of the ball," C-NS coach Kyle Martin said, noting Ithaca's impressive game plan and size. "Our defense put it together (in the final quarter)."
The Little Red squeezed out a 16-14 run in the first quarter. C-NS, however, compiled a 24-20 zip in the second to cling to a 38-36 lead at the half.
Ithaca outscored C-NS, 13-12, in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 50-49. The final quarter then saw the Northstars muscle their way through the Little Red to take home a 10-point win.
"It's a real first game for this new team," Martin said, noting C-NS has a handful of fresh faces in its starting lineup. "We pulled away in the fourth quarter in a big way."
Michael Gallo led the Northstars with 14 points. Andrew Benedict finished with 13 points, and Kyle Williams chipped in 10. Reece Congel added nine.
C-NS (1-0) heads to Section IV's Elmira this Saturday to face the Express at 2 p.m.
"Elmira is a scrappy team. We'll have our guys ready to go," Martin said.
