Girls Hoops Notebook

Hen Hud Surges; Venezia Sets School Record for 3’s

By Tony Pinciaro

HEN HUD coach Ken Sherman could not have asked for anything better in his team’s victories over Beacon, 47-27, and Poughkeepsie, 44-22, last week.

“The past two games have been complete team efforts,” Sherman said. “And that’s what we need down the stretch.”

Hen Hud turned in two excellent defensive games, holding Beacon and Poughkeepsie to single digits in the first half. Sherman also received two fine all-around games from sophomore Caitlin Weimar and senior Taylor Prokopiak, as well as contributions from everyone.

Sherman cited Kira Virada, Aniyah Thomas and Jackie Kenny with impact play in the victories.

“Kira has come off the bench and given us a defensive boost each game,” Sherman said. “Aniyah has hit some big shots and Jackie has come in, for our starting point guard, who broke her foot on New Year’s Eve, and has had to learn the position on the fly.”

Virada collected six points, five rebounds and five steals against Beacon and Kenny added five rebounds and six assists. This buoyed the performances of Weimar (14 points, 13 rebounds and four assists) and Prokopiak (11 points).

Thomas scored six points against Poughkeepsie, Kenny added four steals and Virada grabbed four rebounds. Weimar registered a double-double – 16 points and 14 rebounds – and Prokopiak finished with eight points and seven rebounds as Hen Hud evened its record at 5-5.

Along with the play of Virada, Thomas and Kenny, Weimar has raised her game a level this season. She is averaging 15 points, 11 rebounds and 5.7 blocks per game.

“Caitlin has gone from a freshman on a team with nine seniors, to the main focal point to our team this year without a hitch,” Sherman said. “She has been able to do this with teams double- and triple-teaming her without her forcing up shots. She is shooting close to 50 percent with all of these challenges. What I like most about Caitlin is her demeanor. She gets physically beat up each game and she does not complain. She keeps doing what she is doing.”

YORKTOWN turned in one of its finest games of the season, according to coach Kevin Clark in a 51-40 victory over Mahopac.

“It was an unbelievable team effort,” Clark said. “The girls played great defense and did a remarkable job on the boards, at both ends. We had clutch free-throw shooting to put the game out of reach down the stretch.”

Kat Severino continued her excellent offensive showing this season with a game-high 23 points. Mackenzie Merson contributed 15 points, Emily Metz added seven points and Jesse Barer chipped in with six points. Yorktown is now 5-8 this season.

MAHOPAC split two games, handling league-rival Arlington, 58-44, but dropping a 51-40 verdict to Yorktown. Mahopac is 6-5 this season.

“It was a tight, back-and-forth game in the first half,” said Mahopac Coach Chuck Scozzafava of the Arlington game. “We were able to stretch the lead in the third quarter and in the fourth, we got some steals and turned them into points. I felt we did a good job on the boards, both offensively and defensively and we made a couple stops when the game got tight.”

Siobhan Hynes scored a season-high 21 points and Katrina Klammer added 11 points.

Yorktown seized control of the game in the first quarter, outscoring Mahopac, 17-4.

“We started out slow, but the rest of the game was fairly even,” Scozzafava said. “We just weren’t able to overcome the first quarter. We didn’t box out well and defensively we didn’t defend as well as we have all year.”

Claire Felix led Mahopac with 13 points and Hynes added eight points.

OSINNING outlasted defending New York State Federation champion, South Shore (Brooklyn), 57-55, in overtime behind 28 points and 14 rebounds from Aubrey Griffin.

The Pride, now on a four-game winning streak and 11-3 this season, won despite having three players, including Griffin, foul out. Ossining returns to action, Thursday, Jan. 25, against Yorktown.

South Shore forced overtime with a fourth-quarter surge, but the Pride did not let it affect them in the extra session.

“Having three players foul out, one being Aubrey, we knew we had to step up and dig down deep,” Quain said. “Being in close games prior to this one helped us in the fact that nobody was nervous and we knew what we had to get done in order to get this win.”

Kailah Harris finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and four assists and Quain added 11 points and three boards. Jaida Strippoli registered seven assists.

BREWSTER lost to John Jay-Cross River, 60-51, in its lone game of the week.

“They did a great job of creating turnovers and getting easy baskets in the first three quarters,” Brewster Coach Mike Castaldo said. “We were not taking good shots, not communicating on defense, and we did not do a great job of breaking the press. We tried to make a few adjustments in the second half, but it did not slow John Jay down as they built a 21-point lead going into the 4 quarter.

“However, we did pick up our intensity and urgency as we cut the 21 point lead to six with 1:42 remaining, but it was too little, too late.”

Kristen Stefanick finished with a team-leading 16 points and she added six rebounds. Meagan Beal added 12 points and eight rebounds and Taylor Riccardi chipped in 10 points for the Bears, now 9-5 this season.

PUTNAM VALLEY (9-1) made short work of Pawling in a league win last week, but the big news to come out of the win was the school record set by sophomore sniper Kelli Venezia, who drained nine shots from downtown.

“Kelli is super important to me,” PV Coach Kristi Dini said, “and the fact that I’ll be the one coaching her when she eventually scores her 1,000^th point thrills me. She is such a terrific player and an even better kid.”