Byram, Westlake, Yorktown Boys on Course for League Titles

Panas Girls a Shoo-In; Ossining, Westlake, Mahopac, Yorktown in Hunt

By Ray Gallagher, Examiner Sports Editor @Directrays

Welcome to our first step into an all-digital sports format, following the announcement of the end of a 17-plus-year run of Examiner print editions, which covered areas from White Plains to the Dutchess County border—and most points in between. But since it’s never been about us, let’s dive into the achievements of the student-athletes we proudly serve. We’ll begin with the boys’ teams, followed by the girls’ teams this week, and see where our new approach takes us in the coming weeks.

BOYS HOOPS

CLASS A

WESTLAKE is still flying just below the radar of the NYS Sportswriter’s Association Poll, given just an honorable mention nod despite a strong 13-2 record, that included a pair of routs over struggling CROTON (68-40) and VALHALLA (61-35) and a sweep of Rye Neck (62-47).

In the win over Croton, Marcus Jackette went off for a career-high 36 points while sidekick Brayden Lingeza added 11. Jackette (33 points) and Lingeza (8) were all over Valhalla, too. Furthermore, Coach Chard Charney’s Wildcats (6-0 in League III-A) saw Lingeza and Jackette each score 18 points while Anthony Marzziotti added 15 to take down Rye Neck, 62-47, to further establish Westlake as the current No.2 seed in class, trailing only state-ranked (No.6) BYRAM HILLS.

Coach Ted Repa’s Bobcats (15-2 overall, 4-1 in League II-E ) are the talk of Class A as they run roughshod during a recent seven-game win streak, including Friday’s 55-44 come-from-behind over visiting Rye (3-2 in II-E play), thus splitting the series with the Garnets while inching closer to the II-E title. Byram has proven in recent wins over Rye and TZ that no deficit is too much to overcome, but Coach Rep would like for the cream to rise sooner than it has in recent wins.

Bobcat hotshot Chris Amenedo led the way with 20 points and closed out an outstanding fourth quarter. Senior G Broday Ceisler added 16 points and was huge in the third quarter, sparking the comeback. Ceisler hit back-to-back 3s along the right wing to get Byram on top 33-29 with 2:35 to play in the third quarter. Senior C Zach Efobi, an inspiration at both ends, added the exclamation point, according to Repa.

The Bobcats also crushed Pelham, 58-31, when Ceisler (15 points), Efobi (8 points, 13 boards, Amenedo (8 points, 7 assists), Mike Nezaj (8 points, 8 assists) and Ben Wolf (7 points, 6 rebounds) were all primary contributors. To be on the safe side, Byram parents might want to book a room in Binghamton for the NYS Final 4, just saying #YouCanAlways Cancel #CartB4TheHorse.

Class B HALDANE took the first step toward repeating as League III-D champs in a 61-48 win over Class A PUTNAM VALLEY, which, seemingly, is the only real threat to Coach Joe Virgadamo’s Blue Devils (10-5 overall, 5-0) title hopes. The two teams will meet again on Feb.12 with the league title likely on the line if the Tigers (9-8, 4-1) can knock off Croton, Pawling and North Salem before closing the regular season with visiting Haldane. Nothing is a given, but there’s a good chance the two rivals rekindle with the league title on the line.

In the first go-round, Haldane’s Luke Bozsik (19 points), Zane Del Pozo (18), Fallou Faye (11) and Nate Stickle (10) were all in double digits while PV was led by senior G James Apostolico (20 points).

Apostolico dropped 24 in the Tigers’ win 61-48 win over CROTON, and PV sophomore Logan Moriarty has been dishing and swishing in his initial varsity foray, including 15 in the loss to Haldane and 12 in the win over Croton.

Man, does Feb.12 loom large for both PV and Haldane #ItsAllontheLine in this huge rivalry game.

PLEASANTVILLE (4-10, 3-3) nipped VALHALLA, 52-47, when senior Panther G Declan Bruder dropped a career-high 29 points on the Vikings (1-12, 0-5). Nathan Barreto added 14 while the Vikings were led by leading scorer Brady Teter (17 points). Bruder also went for 10 points in a 72-51 loss to Blind Brook.

CLASS AA

Telling you right now this eighth-grader JoJo Brickhouse is as real a deal as PEEKSKILL has had in quite some time, and they’ve produced the likes of the great Elton Brand, Hilton Armstrong, Mookie Jones and many, many others.

Brickhouse was one of many tremendous talents on display Saturday when Peekskill hosted the Black History Showcase and turned a close finale into a runaway Red Devil win over Poughkeepsie, 60-39. Red Devils Isaiah Crawford (23 points) and Jaden Chavis (15) were among the others to showcase their talents. With wins in five of the last six, Peekskill (11-6) has surged to the current No.6 seed. Hen Hud, Edgemont and Sleepy Hollow stand between the Red Devils and a share of the League II-C title.

It was YORKTOWN that sent Poughkeepsie on its current skid in the state-ranked (No.24) Huskers’ 75-62 drubbing of the Pioneers. Yorktown junior Ryan #DuffMan Duffy went ballistic, dropping a career-high 28 points to go along with 14 boards and five assists.

Husker Brian Hansen (17 points, 7 boards) may have played his best game while senior Kaden Gonzalez did it all (10 points, 8 boards, 13 assist) and David Marasevic (11 points, 3 rebounds) provided key contributions for the Huskers (11-4, 6-1 in League I-A), the current No.2 seed, behind No.1 TZ.

The Huskers also put a hurt on CARMEL in a 71-48 Husker triumph Friday when Gonzalez (30 points, 8 boards, 4 steals) stoked the fire. Duffy (9 points, 9 boards) and Aidan Flynn (6 points, 10 boards) were more than enough to offset 17 points from Carmel Aiden White, who led the Rams (6-9, 2-6), the current No.16 seed, with 17 points.

Carmel did post, perhaps, its biggest win of the season in an 84-79 win over John Jay EF.  White (24 points), Connor Murphy (career-high 20) and Joey Loughlin (19) came up strong.

HORACE GREELEY is looking good for a top-8 seed should the Quakers (10-5, 3-2) get back on track, which, after a pair of losses, they did in an 80-56 win over Lincoln when Quaker G Zach Boyriven (20 points, 7 assists), F Jake Sheehy (18 points) and G Levi Sack (10 points, 3 assists) went all out. #ApologiesToGreeley for calling its 69-64 loss to Fox Lane “a thrashing” last week (a typo, mixing 64 with 46, led this scribe to believe it was a blowout win by the Foxes when, indeed, it came down to the waning seconds).

LAKELAND dominated a 68-33 Giglio Games win over PANAS behind Anthony Attanasio (18 points), Sergio Hormazabel (14) and Oban Rader (14) who led the Hornets (7-8), the current No. 14 seed, and the Panthers fell to 4-12, the No.21 seed.

MAHOPAC dealt host BREWSTER a 57-32 setback Friday when the visiting Wolf Pac (8-8), the current No.15 seed, saw junior point forward Matt Reilly #DunkBoy lead the way with 19 points. Ryan LaRue and Ronan Hunter had nine apiece while the Bears (5-10), the No.19 seed, were led by Harrison Schmitt and Luke Cunningham with 13 apiece.

CLASS B

Them Lawlor boys have been on fire of late at BRIARCLIFF where the Bears (8-7, 3-3), the current No.5 seed, waxed North Salem, 65-38, behind Jason Lawler (16 points, 3 assists) and Luke Lawler (13 points, 8 boards). The brothers were back at it again in Friday’s 51-46 win over Blind Brook with Luke Lawler (18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) and Jason (14 points, 3 steals, 3 assists) joining F Xavier Prekelezaj (10 points, 4 rebound, 3 assists). It’s going to be some tough sledding for the Bears to reach the County Center, but there’s no doubt they are in serious contention to do so.

 

GIRLS HOOPS

We’ve got a slew of Examiner-area challengers looking to make their way to County Center in early March, and none are on a higher plane than WALTER PANAS, which has given rise to an eight-game win streak since a surprising blowout loss to Catholic powerhouse Albertus Magnus, which only primed the Panthers for a big-time run at a potential state title.

CLASS AA

State-ranked (No.2) WALTER PANAS got the better of SOMERS in a 60-30 win last week and remains locked in with No.22 Rye as the favorites for the top seed come playoffs. A balanced effort from All-NYS senior guards Cadence Nicholas (14 points) and Sofia Tavarez (12 points) were bolstered by the efforts of Kiara Williams and Katie Hofmann (8 points apiece). Somers was led by Eliana Contreras (11 points) while dropping to 6-10 overall.

The two-time reigning Section 1 champion Panthers (16-1) ended the week with Saturday’s 54-30 win over rival LAKELAND in the fabled Giglio games, 54-30, behind Tavarez (20 points), Nicholas (13) and Hofmann (8). Up and coming Riley Waters led the Hornets (7-8) with 13 points.

The Class AA playoff picture is flooded with Examiner-area teams throughout the top 10, including current No.4 seed MAHOPAC (10-6), No.5 FOX LANE (10-5), No.6 YORKTOWN (10-5) and No.10 LAKELAND, not to mention No.12 HORACE GREELEY (8-6), which went toe-to-toe with Ossining in an 82-79 setback. The Quakers, though, were unable to put away Lakeland in a 53-52 Hornet win where Waters went for 20 points and Liliana Aguirre added 15 to counter Quakers Claire Reynolds (16 points) and Allie Mosca (13 points).

Yorktown has three double digit scorers in its 65-29 win over Poughkeepsie, including Sophia Boucher (20 points), plus freshmen Sophia Morello (14) and Addie Shluter (10).

PEEKSKILL MVP Jealina Searight scored 10 points, including the game-winning buzzer-beater in the Red Devils’ 28-25 win over Sleepy Hollow. Searight added 18 points in a 54-32 win over Roosevelt.

CLASS A

PLEASANTVILLE gutted out a 53-32 win over a gritty VALHALLA team behind a defensive tone set by Meghan Raefski, Lexi Tomaselli and Julie Karaqi helped set the tone for an amazing defensive performance. Maddie Becerra (23 points) and Tomaselli (10) ignited the offense for the Panthers (9-7), the current No.9 seed, which needs to find that rhythm that helped reach the Final 4 a year ago. The Vikings dipped to 9-7 overall but remain the current No.3 seed in Class B, on a course that could lead to County Center.

And speaking of County Center, current No.4 seed WESTLAKE and No.5 HEN HUD (10-5) are on a righteous path should they finish strong. The Wildcats are quite the story. After losing a pair of promising players to injury, the unit has somehow stepped up to provide a 12-3 record, including a pair of wins over Rye Neck (45-39 on senior night) and Valhalla (73-49). Megan Nebel ( 13 points), Maggie Plotkin (12) and Olivia Celaj (9) were key figures in the win over Rye Neck. Westlake drilled 11 3-pointers in the win over Valhalla, the majority coming off shots from Plotkin (27 points) and Celaj (24 points), who have truly stepped us this season. Violet Mattoni went for 23 points to lead the Vikings. Isabella Mattoni dropped 21 points in a 56-53 Viking win over North Salem.

Hen Hud (10-5), ranked No.25 in NYS, plowed past Sleepy Hollow, 50-15 behind Kate Stratton (15 points) and Maria Ribeiro (11).

CLASS AAA

Led by rising senior Saniya Bell’s career-high 40 points (7 boards) and Claire Schnecker’s 26 (13 rebounds), OSSINING defeated Irvington 92-70, and has emerged as the current No.4 seed while the state-ranked (No.27) Pride (13-4, 11-3) have reeled off five straight league wins and can clinch the I-D title this week with wins over Greeley and Fox Lane. Heading out Saturday’s finale of the Pauline Ricci Memorial Classic, the Pride were averaging nearly 90 PPG in their last four. That is the type of production that just might give state-ranked powers (No.4) Magnus, (No.9) RCK and No.13 Ursuline fits come playoffs.

The Pride also threw the kitchen sink at WHITE PLAINS in an 84-37 win to open the week, hitting 15 shots from distance. Bell went off in the first half(29 points in first half), finishing with 32 points and 12 boards while Schnecker did major damage (22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assist). Reese Caparelli added 15 points off five 3’s. White Plains was led by Milan Ragin (12 points).

Examiner-area coaches are encouraged to tag @Directrays on X or Insta or email Raygallaghersports@gmail.com with game-by-game results and comment, please and thanks!

 

DAVID TABER/CHRIS SMAJLAJ/RAY GALLAGHER PHOTOS