Croton Cruises to Mayclim Tourney Title; Panas Snags Somers Title

By Tony Pinciaro

A loss to Tuckahoe in the second game of the season angered CROTON and it made the Tigers focus on improving their approach.

“We had just come off a big win over Valhalla and we were feeling prideful and happy,” senior Captain Lucia Thoreson said. “We felt we went into the game not prepared for what was coming at us. After that game we decided we would go into games with the mindset that we are going to play our hardest, play our best and play our game.”

Croton responded with a four-game winning streak last week, capped by winning its own Mayclim Tournament, a highly heralded deal along the river city. As a result, the Tigers (5-1) are establishing themselves as a prime contender for the Section 1 Class B title come March.

The excellent start should come as no surprise to Croton’s opponents considering the Tigers played Westlake in a 2023 Section 1 Class B semifinal at the Westchester County Center.

Despite the loss to Westlake, Thoreson and her teammates viewed the year as successful and were psyched for the 2023-24 season.

“That was the first time in 25 years Croton had played at the County Center,” Thoreson said. “We were so proud of our accomplishments because we came so far last year. We used that success to build on this season.”

Croton opened the week with a convincing 57-30 win over Roosevelt as Ava Andrews netted 21 points and Thoreson finished with 12 points.

The Tigers posted their best win of the season – 36-31 – over Westlake, outsourcing the Wildcats by 12 points in the decisive fourth quarter.

“Our coach was telling us at halftime how nice a feeling it would be for us to come back and beat them in their own gym,” said Thoreson, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds. “In the fourth quarter we looked to score more and we also shut down their two best players. Once we locked up those players we were able to utilize our offensive skills.”

Andrews (22 points, five steals) and Thoreson (14 points, six steals) powered Croton to a 49-45 win over Woodlands in a first-round Mayclim Tournament game.

Thoreson led the way in the final against Haldane with 13 points and fellow senior Erin Baumeister contributed eight points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Thoreson was selected to the all-tournament team and Andrews was chosen as most valuable player.

Erin Baumeister, Taylor Aronstan, Ellie Zamora. 3 seniors in 2023 (2 starters).

The excellent start for Croton is no surprise for Thoreson, Baumeister and classmates Taylor Aronstan and Ellie Zamora. Even though Croton graduated three key players from last year’s team.

“We have always had a very deep bench,” Thoreson said. “Everyone on the team can add something to the game and we have used that to our advantage.

“We feel this year the seniors have stepped it up and taken on a new leadership role. We love to keep the motivation going through team bondings which has led to us creating more team chemistry, especially for game-time situations.”

This was especially evident in Croton’s winning its tournament.

“It was a very happy moment to win the trophy, but also sad because this was my last Mayclim,” Thoreson said. “We were motivated to play in front of our family and community.”

LAKELAND is buzzing after a 47-37 victory over Byram Hills gave the Hornets a 4-0 record.

Nichole Ljuljic and Ava Lugo scored 11 points apiece, Riley Waters added 10 points and Hannah Devane chipped in nine points.

“The girls are off to a great start,” Lakeland Coach Miranda Mangan said. “The strength of our schedule increases, coming up so we need to continue to focus on making sure we are getting better every day.”

The Hornets played Gorton, Monday, and will host district rival and undefeated Panas (5-0), Wednesday.

PANAS improved to 5-0 this season after winning the Somers’ Tournament.The Panthers opened with a 69-51 victory over Mahopac as their All-Tourney backcourt of Cadence Nicholas and Sofia Tavarez took control, scoring 23 and 22 points, respectively. Katie Hofmann added 15 points. Panas added the exclamation point with an 85-40 dismantling of Tuckahoe in the championship game.

Nicholas scored a game-high 26 points and was named the most valuable player. Tavarez contributed 17 points, 10 assists and six steals.

After a rough first week, HORACE GREELEY rebounded with two wins to even its record at 3-3. Bella Schulman checked the boxes on the stat sheet with a game-best 27 points and she had seven rebounds, five assists and four steals in a 58-53 win over New Rochelle.

Ava Gusba finished with a double-double – 22 points and 10 rebounds – and Carolina Negrin added 10 rebounds and five blocked shots.Schulman surpassed 20 points again – 22 – in a 47-34 win over Mount Vernon. She also grabbed seven rebounds. Gusba scored 10 points and collected four rebounds.

“I was very happy with our girls’ play this week,” Horace Greeley Coach Sarah Schum said. “The girls are playing hard and playing together. It is nice to see. Hoping we can keep getting better together throughout the year.”

HALDANE won two of its three games last week, including the Louis Larizza, Jr., Tournament title at Port Chester. The Blue Devils defeated host Port Chester, 49-39, in the final as Marisa Peters scored a game-high 22 points.

Tournament MVP Kayla Ruggiero doubled up with 10 points and 16 rebounds.Haldane defeated Rye Neck in the first round of the Mayclim (Croton) Tournament behind Peters’ 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds and Camilla McDaniel’s 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Kayla Ruggiero contributed 12 points, four rebounds and five assists and Elaina Johanson had eight points and 10 rebounds. Croton defeated Haldane in the championship game.

YORKTOWN went 2 for 2 with double-digit wins over Yonkers and Fox Lane (36-26).

Kaitlyn Judge had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists against Yonkers. Jess Crocamo contributed 12 points and Olivia Del Gaudio had a pair of 10s – points and rebounds. Ava Costello finished with eight points and five rebounds.

Judge filled out the stats’ sheet against Fox Lane with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Costello added 10 points and Del Gaudio collared a game-best 11 rebounds.

Yorktown played fellow perennial Class A power Pearl River, Monday.

PUTNAM VALLEY registered two wins last week over Pleasantville (42-40) and Tuckahoe (50-42). Jona Kabashi paced the two-tie defending Section 1 champion Tigers with 17 points and 13 rebounds against Pleasantville and Nai Torres poured in a career-high 29 points against Tuckahoe.

SOMERS dropped a 45-37 verdict to Tuckahoe in the first round of its tournament as Olivia Allegretti netted 11 points and Lindsay McCullough deposited 10 points.

The Tuskers came back the following day and were impressive in a 55-45 victory over Mahopac.

McCullough, who was an all-tournament selection, scored a game-high 23 points. Olivia Allegretti had another solid game, scoring 17 points.

“I think our press was a huge factor in the game,” said Somers’ Coach Kevin Mallon of the win. “We were able to slow Mahopac down and turn them over a bunch. The night prior against Tuckahoe we rebounded and shot poorly.

“Our rebounding was much better against Mahopac and we were able to hit a few more 3s. Lindsay was awesome, scoring and Olivia and Sydney (Ingraham) were excellent defensively getting tons of steals or deflections.”

BYRAM HILLS evened its record at 2-2 following a 47-31 win over Gorton as Grace Corelli led a balanced scoring output with 18 points. Alana Vataj added 10 points and Darien Messina scored eight points. The Bobcats lost to Lakeland, 47-37, earlier in the week as

Vataj scored a game-high 15 points.

FOX LANE split two games last week – a 56-28 victory over East Ramapo and a 36-26 loss to Yorktown. Nora Dooley scored a team-best 10 points and Cara Drapala added nine points as 13 Foxes had points. Drapala fueled the Foxes with 10 points against Yorktown.

OSSINING lost a tough one – 56-50 – to Nyack, dropping the Pride to an uncharacteristic 1-4 this season. Ty’asia Carver led the Pride with 16 points. Claire Schnecker finished with nine points and seven rebounds and Nicole Perriott scored eight points and snared a game-best 15 rebounds.

WESTLAKE Coach Sean Mayer felt his girls played well in its three games despite the final results. Tuckahoe held on to beat Westlake, 51-48, despite 21 points from Brooke Pfeiffer and 20 points from Maggie Plotkin.

“It was another tough loss,” Mayer said. “That’s back-to-back games falling short by a basket. We need to take care of the ball better. We had too many turnovers.”

Croton outscored Westlake by 12 points in the fourth quarter to steal a 36-31 win.

This was the first meeting between the teams since last March when Westlake defeated Croton in a Section 1 Class B final-four game.

Pfeiffer paced Westlake with 16 points.

Rye handed Westlake a 50-41 loss even though Plotkin finished with a game-high 20 points and Olivia Celaj chipped in 13 points.

“We gave a great effort against a talented and well-coached Rye team,” Mayer said.

WHITE PLAINS took its third consecutive loss – 61-44 to Harrison.

“Harrison took advantage of our inconsistent defensive rotation and they hit all of their open shots,” White Plains’ coach Benji Carter said. “We must cut down on our mistakes when going up against polished teams like Harrison.”

Ineivi Plata scored 21 points and also had seven rebounds and seven assists and Sequoia Layne added 13 points and 10 rebounds.