The Lady Cobras renewed their neighborhood rivalry with East Syracuse-Minoa Saturday afternoon, coming away with a 52-43 victory at the Cobra Pit. Despite being ahead virtually the entire afternoon, the Lady Cobras needed to grind out the win with some gritty play in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Cobras played a relatively strong first half as they were able to get scoring from five different players and used a strong team effort defensively to build a 27-15 halftime lead. Then came a drought that forced the young Lady Cobra squad to rely on gritty defense and some strong work on the backboards to keep the lead until they could find the bottom of the net again. A seven-point third quarter output with only one made field goal put the Lady Cobras ahead 34-27 heading to the final eight minutes.

The Lady Cobras got back on track offensively in the fourth quarter keyed by an increase in game tempo and some clutch foul shooting. The Lady Cobras made their final eight free throw attempts of the game, and were 16-of-22 total for the afternoon.

Gia Kinsey returned from an ankle injury to score 17 points. Olivia Bitz finished with 14 points and Aaliyah Zachery scored 12. The Lady Cobras have an opportunity to get healthy with an almost two-week break before they host their annual Holiday Tournament on December 29-30. They will open with Fayetteville-Manlius on Friday, December 29 at 6:45 pm.