Fox Lane Girls’ Basketball Team Earns Its First Victory
Christmas arrived a few days early for the Fox Lane girls’ basketball team.
Desperately in search of a win after starting the 2021-22 season with five consecutive losses, the Foxes got a visit last Wednesday afternoon from Mount Vernon, a team struggling even more and that had lost each of its first six games by at least 25 points.
With freshman guard Cara Drapala pouring in 21 points and senior Quoya Schnell adding 16, the Foxes added to the Knights’ woes with a lopsided 61-33 home victory. Scoring the game’s first nine points, a streak that began with a 3-point shot by Schnell and ended with a 3-pointer from Drapala two minutes after the opening jump, Fox Lane never trailed and built a lead as large as 32 points midway through the final quarter.
Drapala, who also finished with six rebounds, five assists and four steals, connected on her second 3-pointer of the game with just under three minutes to go in the first quarter, giving the Foxes a 12-3 lead. In the last minute of the period, Drapala drove into the lane for a one-hander that rolled in and Schnell dribbled left for a 12-foot jumper just outside the lane that enabled Fox Lane to build its advantage to 16-5.
Mount Vernon misfired on its first five shots from the field in the first quarter and began the second with four straight misses. Just 20 seconds into the quarter, Fox sophomore Lauren Antolino tossed in a shot after dribbling to the right baseline. The Foxes’ lead grew to 21-5 when Ibby Moccia drained a lefty 3-point shot near the top of the key. A pair of free throws from Antolino with 4:50 left in the half capped the extended 12-0 Fox run and left the Knights behind by 19 points.
Moccia drove the left baseline for a bucket with 2:24 remaining and Schnell, who also recorded seven rebounds and seven steals, followed with a trey from the right elbow 45 seconds later, stretching the Fox lead to 21 points. A basket by Antolino with 11 seconds on the clock sent the Foxes to the locker room with a 33-12 halftime cushion.
The second half began with Drapala driving into the lane for an easy layup and after that Mount Vernon never got any closer than 21 points. A couple of free throws by Moccia with exactly a minute left in the third quarter extended the Foxes’ lead to 49-20 and they took a 27-point advantage into the fourth quarter.
Just as she did to start the third quarter, Drapala opened the fourth with another drive through the lane for a layup. When she swished a 3-point shot from the right elbow with 5:56 left in the game, Fox Lane’s lead grew to 30 points. Two consecutive baskets by sophomore Lily Moore, the first one a short pop in the lane and the second a toss high off glass on a drive, gave the Foxes their largest lead of the afternoon, 60-28.
For the Foxes, Moccia wound up with seven points and eight rebounds. Nicole Picinich, one of Fox Lane’s senior captains, added five points, eight rebounds and six steals. Senior Susannah Kimsal grabbed 11 rebounds, while eighth-grader Morgan Clinton chipped in with seven boards.
-Andy Jacobs
Andy is a sports editor at Examiner Media, covering seven high schools in the mid-Westchester region with a notebook and camera. He began there in the fall of 2007 following 15 years as a candid photographer for the largest school picture company in the tri-state area.
Read more of Andy’s full bio here.
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