Cicero-North Syracuse fell 56-54 in overtime to Baldwin (Section VIII) in the New York State Class AA girls basketball semifinal round on Friday at Hudson Valley Community College.
"It was a back-and-forth game from beginning to end," C-NS coach Rob Siechen said. "Couldn't have been prouder of the girls' effort today."
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With a trip to the state title game on the line, the state semifinal contest was knotted at 50 at the end of regulation.
A few minutes into OT, the Bruins jumped out to a 56-50 lead, which included a couple of breakaways from Rennelle Grannum. Baldwin was also backed by a stout defensive effort, keeping the Northstars scoreless in OT until the matchup got inside the two-minute mark.
Later in OT, C-NS's Alita Carey-Santangelo notched a bucket, drew the foul, but missed on a free-throw attempt. The Northstars cut the lead to 56-52.
With about 13 minutes to go in the matchup, Sydney Nesci sliced the deficit to 56-54 on a two-point shot. Alexa Kulakowski put up a desperation 3-pointer as the clock winded down, but the shot fell short.
"(I give) credit to our kids. They battled back," Siechen said. "(Baldwin) is really athletic. We had some opportunities and an opportunity to win it with a shot at the end, but it bounced off."
The Bruins led 24-23 at the half, and the game was tied at 40 at the end of the third quarter.
With the matchup tied at 42 inside the six-minute mark, Kulakowski scored consecutive baskets to make it 46-42 Northstars.
Katelyn Simpson cut it to 46-44 on a quick basket further into the fourth, however, Kulakowski put up a shot for two from the charity stripe to give C-NS a 48-44 advantage.
C-NS and Baldwin traded leads and knotted the score a couple of times the rest of the quarter. With 30 seconds left in regulation, Carey-Santangelo notched a two from under the basket to tie the game at 50-50.
Kulakowski tried to win it for C-NS on a two-pointer but missed the attempt.
"(Alexa) finally got free after being locked up in the first half," Siechen said. "We tried to do some things for her to capitalize, so it was great for her."
Kulakowski finished with 16 points and three steals for the Northstars. Carey-Santangelo had 11 points and four assists and Kathleen Taru tallied 13 points and three blocks. Nesci contributed eight points, five assists and two steals.
The Northstars wrap up their 2021-22 season with a 17-5 record, a Section III Class AA title and a Class AA regional trophy.
"Today kind of hurts a bit, but overall it was a great season," Siechen said.
C-NS will graduate five seniors this year, which prompted Siechen to tell his underclassmen to "step up" for the 2022-23 campaign.
"Hopefully they have a desire to perform next season," he said.
