The Cicero-North Syracuse girls basketball team has dealt with plenty of heartbreak the past couple of seasons.

The Northstars have made the sectional final in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns, only to be halted shy of a title both times by Liverpool.

Now, second-seeded C-NS is getting a third chance to redeem itself following a 49-33 win over third-seeded Baldwinsville on Wednesday in the Class AAA semifinal round at Nottingham High School.  

The Northstars will take on top-seeded Liverpool once again in Sunday's Class AAA final at the SRC Arena, with the end goal of capturing a sectional crown for the second time in four seasons.

"It's great and where we wanted to be," C-NS coach Rob Siechen said. "We'll see what we can do (on Sunday)."

C-NS and Liverpool split the regular-season series. Liverpool won on Jan. 7, while the Northstars were victorious on Feb. 15.

Wednesday's contest versus the Bees saw C-NS pull off a 12-0 advantage in the opening quarter

"That was really good for us to start the game that way," Siechen said. "We didn't have any three-pointers in the first half, so everything was at the rim or in transition."

Siechen noted the game was "pretty even" from the second quarter to the end of the game, but added C-NS's defense was solid.

"We did really well defensively, especially in the first half. Baldwinsville got the shots they needed, but we still held our own," Siechen said. "We took away what they wanted to do (in transition)."

Leah Benedict paced the Northstars with 24 points, including a couple of 3-pointers and four made free throws.

Siechen noted that scoring is one of Benedict's biggest roles, especially in the postseason.

"Leah's a really good shooter. She attacked the basket tonight," Siechen said. "She made some good adjustments and made a couple of threes for us in the second half."  

Jillian Howell chipped in eight points for the Northstars.

For the Bees, Madison Polky scored 12 of her 19 points off threes.

The Class AAA sectional championship starts at 5 p.m.

"We have to do what we did (on Feb. 15)," Siechen said. "If we continue our defensive effort, I think we'll battle well. It's about taking care of the basketball and not allowing easy buckets in transition."

Baldwinsville capped its season with a 14-8 record.