A One-on-One with a Pair of Local Sports Junkies

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

So, I’m hanging out with a friend of mine from Mahopac during a Fourth of July party, a guy that’s really into local sports. Maybe not quite the junkie I am, but he says to me, “So if you had to pick one sport, nowadays, that Mahopac is celebrated for or synonymous with, what would it be?”

Man, I had to kick that around a bit, because while Mahopac is competitive in most sports, both boys and girls, the former Indians-turned-Wolf-Pac (who #ShouldBeTheLakers, if ya HAD to make a politically-correct name change) haven’t cleared a team sport sectional championship hurdle in quite some time, save for the softball title star P Shannon Becker and batterymate Michelle Della Mura delivered in 2021.

I settled on wrestling with Mahopac, based upon the many sectional titles those old Italian Stallions – led by the great Joe Mazzurco, Dom Oddo, Justice Flamio and Dave and Mike Colagiovanni just after the turn of the century – delivered during their championship heyday. But I reminded my friend it’s been quite some time since the Indians/Wolf Pac were at the level they were when four different coaches guided the team to sectional titles – Sal Imbimbo, Joe Mahoney, John Degl and Tony Iasiello. Four different coaches, four consecutive titles over four years. That was no small feat. My buddy quickly moved on to neighboring Somers, asking me about the Tuskers, what sport do they best align with? That was a little tougher, based on the success Somers has had in recent years, especially on the gridiron and soccer pitch. The Tuskers have won three state titles in football and two boys’ soccer crowns since 2016 while excelling on the girls’ side as well.

I settled on football, knowing full well that the DeMatteo boys – legendary former Coach Tony D and soon-to-be legend Anthony Jr. – have secured eight sectional titles since 2000, seven since 2012 behind the likes of Matt Pires, Messiah Horne, Nick Gargiulo, Ryan Cole, Matt Fitzsimons, Jake Polito, Mac Sullivan and scores of others – and four trips to Syracuse since 2016 #DownWithTheSickness.

My friend was now spitting out schools and asking for their associations with sports one by one. Lakeland, he wondered? Field hockey, I shot back. Coach Sharon Sarsen is a living legend, much like Tony D. Um, 15 straight Section 1 titles and counting, 20 overall and 13 state jams. Easy, peasy! Had a great recent run on the diamond as well #JoeVetrano, #EvanBerta.

Yorktown, he asked? Seriously! Are you living under a rock, I responded? Boys’ lax for sure (41 sectional titles), but girls’ lax is building something special.

Fox Lane, he queried. Baseball, without a doubt. Coach Matt Hillis has developed a Section 1 program that is second only to Ketcham #IMO.

Putnam Valley, your former hometown, he asked? Girls’ hoops, I responded, is a no-brainer. Despite the recent coaching carousel – Kristi Dini (who never wanted to leave), Don Hamlin and budding Harrison Deegan – the Tigers have won consistently, taking four straight sectional titles (plus a covid crown) and counting while falling short in a pair of state title tilts. Me thinks Miss Eva DeChent – a two-time NYS Class B Player of the Year (2022-23) and the program’s all-time leading scorer – had a little something to do with that.

Walter Panas? Again, girls’ hoops! Back-to-back sectional titles, a state title and consecutive championship appearances, and two of the best players in program history in Cadence Nicholas and Sofia Tavarez to go along with the likes of former greats Kerry Sullivan and Danille Hood.

Carmel has got to be football, right, he said? Duh, I responded! Three-peat as Section 1 champs in 2023 and regular appearances in the state finals, plus a 2021 state title #ThanksToddCayea #ThanksDylanShields.

He started going further down county: Pleasantville? That, I said, is a football and boys’ lax juggernaut of late, thanks to the Picart twins, Aidan and Daniel, and coaching excellence atop both programs. But the Panthers have some additional mastery forthcoming on the girls’ side of things, including soccer, hoops and lax.

Briarcliff? Boys’ lax had one of the great runs in school history under former coach Al Meola, winning three straight sectional titles from 2019 to 2022 (and would have won a fourth in 2020 if not for the COVID pandemic).

Greeley, he asked? I didn’t have a specific sport for him, but I did let him know that the current boys’ track and field program is really riffing as is their 2024 Section 1 runner-up boys’ lax team. Also, the Quakers’ 2024 girls’ lax champions are a sure sign of things to come, not to mention their 2020 upset of mighty Mount Vernon for the Quakers’ lone boys’ Section 1 hoops title.

It was about then when I had finished my Arnold Palmer spiked tea and needed a refill, so I politely excused myself for a pontoon cruise along lovely Lake Mahopac. But it was one heck of an introspective conversation, and I’m sure I left some folks and teams out #Apologies, #IAmShot

Ray Gallagher

Ray has 33 years experience covering and photographing local sports in Westchester and Putnam counties, including everything from Little League/Travel Baseball to varsity high school prep sports and collegiate coverage. He has been a sports editor at Examiner Media since its inception in 2007.

Visit Ray’s author bio page for more details. Also read Ray’s archived work here and his Direct Rays column here.