Girls Hoops Notebook

Weimar, DePaoli, Cody Hit 1,000-Point Milestones

By Tony Pinciaro

Caitlin Weimar has been a big reason for the resurgence of the HEN HUD girls’ basketball program.

The 6-foot-3 junior, now in her third varsity season, and her teammates have improved dramatically the past few years, including double-digit-win seasons and sectional victories.

Even though Weimar is the defensive focus of every opponent, she is averaging 21.6 points, 16.8 rebounds and 6.7 blocked shots for the 10-9 Sailors, who have never seen these kind of numbers in all three categories. Surely, Alysha Fanning, Jess Harris and Kathleen Staten put up monster numbers in their heyday, but Weimar’s overall numbers are absurd.

“We have asked Caitlin to be a force and that is her best improvement,” Hen Hud Coach Ken Sherman said after the Class A Sailors reached double digits with victories over Carmel (57-37) and Croton (55-43). “Caitlin’s most impressive trait is that teams know they have to stop her and she continues to put up triple-doubles.”

Weimar finished with a game-high 20 points, 23 rebounds and 13 blocked shots against Class A Carmel. With all of the defensive attention Weimar receives, Sherman said she is still unflappable.

“Caitlin gets roughed up when she is scoring and playing offense and I simply do not know how she keeps her composure,” Sherman said. “I don’t feel the refs call enough fouls for her and she smiles and continues to play.”

This composure also plays in to what makes Weimar a coaching pleasure.

“The best thing about coaching Caitlin is her demeanor,” Sherman said. “You can’t tell if she is having a great game or a bad game because she will always continue to play hard.”

While Weimar was registering a triple-double against Carmel, Grace Moretti added 12 points, four assists and three steals and Heather Riefenhauser had 11 points.

Weimar followed it up with 29 points and 16 rebounds against Croton. Aniyah Thomas scored a season-high 15 points and Grace Moretti grabbed 12 rebounds as the sailors improved to 10-9 on the season.

The Sailors close out the regular season against Beacon and a victory would result in a league championship.

PANAS (16-2) continued its excellent season with a 55-53 triumph of SOMERS and 32-26 over Beacon as the Panthers now stand to earn a No.1/2-type seed in the Class A playoffs.

Panas concludes the regular season with Pelham and John Jay-Cross River. A victory over John Jay would give the Panthers a share of the league title and a boost of confidence heading in to the playoffs.

“The girls played possibly their best of the season against Somers,” Panas Coach Matt Evangelista said. “Julia Araujo and Kat Reynoso both played amazing defense.”

Cailean Nolan collected 15 points, all on three-pointers, and Kristen Cinquina added 14 points against Somers. Kristen Scrobola finished with 10 points and nine rebounds and Araujo and Reynoso had eight points apiece.

Nolan led Panas with 12 points against Beacon and Scrobola and Cinquina each had eight points.

BREWSTER had three games after going more than 10 days without playing. The Bears rang up wins over Lakeland (58-48) and North Salem (54-37) before John Jay-Cross River spoiled a perfect week with a 70-50 win.

During the North Salem game, senior Maggie DePaoli registerEd her 1,000^th varsity point. DePaoli led Brewster against Lakeland with 14 points, five assists and five steals and Meagan Beal also had 14 points along with 11 rebounds and three blocks.

“This was a typical league game against Lakeland, very difficult and physical,” Brewster Coach Mike Castaldo said. “We built an 18-point lead half-way through the third and, as always, Lakeland cut it to six with four minutes to go. Luckily, we were able to string together a few stops late and make our free throws down the stretch.”

DePaoli finished with a team-leading 15 points against North Salem, Beal had 13 points and Carly DeLanoy contributed 11 points

“Heading into the game, Maggie needed 12 points for 1,000 career points and the message she told her teammates before the game was the priority of the game was to win,” Castaldo said. “That’s the kind of player Maggie is, she would rather have one point and win then have 30 and lose. Maggie got her 1,000 point with 4:27 to go in the third on a free-throw attempt. It was an unbelievable moment. I can’t tell you how proud of her I was. Nobody has put in more work than Maggie and it has clearly showed. We are all so proud of her, it was a great atmosphere and it is something we will never forget.”

DePaoli and Beal each had 14 points and Alexis Mark added 10 against John Jay.

“Going into half, we were down, 40-22, and had way too many turnovers against their press,” Castaldo said. “We played a much better second half and were only outscored by two, but it was way too big of a deficit. Against a team like that you have to play for 32 minutes, playing hard for 16 minutes will never get you a win against anyone in our league.”

YORKTOWN went 2 for 3 for the week, opening with a 59-41 loss to John Jay-Cross River as the Indians outscored the Cornhuskers, 25-7, in the second and third quarters.

The Cornhuskers bounced back to deal Lakeland a 65-48 defeat and even the set with John Jay after a 49-44 win.

Yorktown Coach Brian Mundy was pleased with his team against Lakeland and the rematch with John Jay.

“We took care of the ball a little better against the press and we were more aggressive coming to the ball,” said Mundy of the second John Jay game. “We were more successful in the low post area in this game, and more aggressive offensively. I’m proud of the girls battling back after being down, 11-2, early. They didn’t panic and stuck with the game plan. It was a good win.”

Kat Severino led Yorktown with 19 points in the loss to John Jay and Melissa Severino and Ashley Zeolla each had nine points.

Severino poured in a game-high 27 points against Lakeland. Amber Bodden sank four three-pointers and finished with 14 points and Zeolla had 11 as Yorktown enters the last week of the regular season with a 12-6 record.

PUTNAM VALLEY ran its record to 17-1 with wins over Edgemont (57-38) and North Salem and looks like a top-2 Class B seed for playoffs after locking up the League III-E title.

Tiger G Kelli Venezia pumped in a game-high 21 points and G Arianna Stockinger chipped in 19 points against Edgemont.

Venezia led a balanced scoring output with 13 points against North Salem and G Cyera Daughtry added 11 points.

OSSINING improved to 13-5 on the season with a convincing 90-54 victory over Albertus Magnus and an 87-55 triumph of Scarsdale.

Julia Iorio scored a career-high 24 points for the eight-time reigning Section 1 Class AA champion Pride in the victory over Scarsdale. Aubrey Griffin added 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Kailah Harris chipped in 18 points. Jaida Strippoli collected seven assists.

Griffin finished with a game-high 40 points, 21 rebounds and five assists against Albertus. Harris added 28 points and 13 rebounds. Julia Iorio chipped in with nine points and five rebounds and Jaida Strippoli rang up nine assists.

Ossining closes out the regular season with Ursuline and Kennedy Catholic (Somers).

After dropping games to Arlington (53-45) and John Jay-East Fishkill (51-36), MAHOPAC salvaged the week with a 60-45 victory over archrival CARMEL.

“We played a complete game, both offensively and defensively, against Carmel,” Mahopac Coach Chuck Scozzafava said. “Offensively, against Arlington, we didn’t execute well and defensively, we didn’t get out to their shooters.”

Caitlyn O’Boyle led Mahopac with 23 points against Carmel, who saw senior Claire Cody notch the 1,000^th point of her brilliant career against Scarsdale earlier in the week. Against Mahopac, Cody posted her typical gaudy numbers (23 points, 19 rebounds).

Mia Klammer scored 16 points in the Arlington game and Shannon Becker led Mahopac with 12 points against John Jay.

LAKELAND had a difficult week, falling to Brewster (58-48), Yorktown (65-48) and Somers (65-47).

Alexa Cole led Lakeland with 15 points, 22 points and 19 points in each game. Sofia Portante added 11 points in the loss to Brewster and Amanda Cole had 12 points against Somers.

• Ray Gallagher contributed to this story