Girls Hoops Notebook

Hen Hud, Somers, Panas, Brewster Advance to Class A Quarters

Class AA Ossining, Class B Put Valley a Win Away from Final 4

By Tony Pinciaro

 

When HEN HUD needs an energy boost or a lift, Coach Ken Sherman turns to Kira Varada. The freshman has made an impact in her first year on varsity, especially on defense.

In Hen Hud’s Section 1 Class A Girls’ Basketball Championship first-round game, Varada came off the bench to score 12 points, register an incredible 14 steals and hand out six assists in a 66-33 victory over Yonkers.

The sixth-seeded Sailors, now 14-7, have won eight consecutive games heading into their quarterfinal game with third-seeded Rye, Thursday.

“Kira is our spark plug off the bench,” Sherman said. “She gives us a ton of energy and plays excellent defense. She is always somehow around the ball, even on the boards and she is a guard.”

Sherman watched Varada, then an eighth-grader, play varsity lacrosse with his daughter, last spring.

“I saw her play there and knew she had the ability to play varsity this year,” Sherman said.

Even though Varada showed tremendous promise, she had not played basketball last year.

“Our head of security and myself had to persuade Kira to play,” Sherman said.

Sailor sophomore C Caitlin Weimar went for a game-high 18, and only adds to the speculation that the Sailors are a program on the come.

SOMERS, the 2017 Section 1 Class A champions, began its quest to repeat with a 51-25 victory over Lakeland.

The second-seeded Tuskers host 10^th-seeded Panas, Thursday, in a quarterfinal. Hannah Angelini led the Tuskers with a game-high 18 points, Dani DiCintio chipped in 11 points and Isabella Rukaj added six.

“Our win over Lakeland was a real eye-opener,” senior Jackie Penzo said. “We executed the game plan perfectly and played as a team. This game showed us that if we all work together and play our best basketball we will be very successful.”

State-ranked (No.22) omers was successful against Panas with two regular-season victories, 44-39 and 52-49, but the Tuskers realize it means nothing.

“Winning three times against a team is very difficult,” Penzo said. “In order to beat them again, we need to stay humble and play to our fullest potential. If we do all of the things that we can control, we will be able to beat Panas a third time this season.”

Penzo and her teammates are aware of what happened to fifth-seeded Tappan Zee. The Dutchies swept Nanuet during the regular season, but were upset in the first round by the Golden Knights.

“The Tappan Zee-Nanuet game was a reminder for all of us that we can’t underestimate an opponent because anyone can win on any given day.”

 

PANAS earned a rematch with Somers with 55-39 triumph over No.7 Ardsley. This came on the heels of a 56-33 victory over Beacon in an out-bracket game.

Danielle Merante led the Panthers with 16 points and she added seven rebounds against Ardsley. Kellie Brown and Kristen Cinquina each had 14 points. Brown added eight rebounds and five blocked shots and Cinquina scored 12 of her 14 in the second half. Kristen Scrobola grabbed nine rebounds.

“We went into sectionals knowing we had to play our brand of basketball in order to succeed,” Merante said. “We keyed in on their best player and tried limiting her shots. Since we were able to play solid defensively, the offense just flowed having multiple people contribute the entire game.”

Merante said the victory over Beacon gave the team confidence going into Ardsley. The victory over Ardsley added to Panas’ confidence, however, the Panthers understand Somers is at another level.

“We know how great of a team Somers is, so we are keying in on our past mistakes, watching film and discussing our strengths and weaknesses so we know what to focus on,” Merante said. “Who knows, maybe the third time will be the charm for us.”

Scrobola finished with a team-high 11 points against Beacon. Merante added 10 points and Cinquina contributed nine points.

BREWSTER drew perennial Class A power and multiple-time sectional champion Pearl River and came away with a 43-41 victory.

The eighth-seeded Bears travel to top-seeded John Jay-Cross River, Thursday, in a quarterfinal game.

“This was a great game from start to finish,” Brewster Coach Mike Castaldo said. “I’m so proud of my girls on how they played against Pearl River. They showed great composure and never folded when things got out of hand. They have tremendous heart.”

Castaldo said Maggie DePaoli went five of six from the free-throw line in the final two minutes, as the Bears rallied from a late six-point deficit.

“Meagan Beal played tremendous defense on Pearl River’s best player, Erin Clinton, holding her to just five points,” Castaldo said. “Eighth-grader Grace Galgano forced a very difficult, last-second shot, under the rim as Pearl River went for the tying basket with five seconds to go and Beal secured the defensive board for the win.”

DePaoli led the Bears with 18 points and Galgano finished with seven points and seven rebounds.

John Jay swept the season set with Brewster, but Castaldo will have his team ready.

“We lost two very close games,” Castaldo said. “One was a great game, from start to finish, and the other we had to come back from 20. They are the one seed for a reason. They are extremely well-coached, a great defensive team and are very athletic.”

OSSINING opened its defense of its Class AA title with a 98-31 thumping of Clarkstown North. The top-seeded, state-ranked (No.5) Pride host eighth-seeded White Plains, Friday, in a quarterfinal.

The seven-time reigning Section 1 champion Pride, winners of 11 consecutive games, was led by Aubrey Griffin’s 22 points. She also had six rebounds and five steals. Kelsey Quain chipped in with 21 points and five assists. Ashley McFadden scored a season-high 15 points, Kailah Harris added 14 points and 10 rebounds and Julia Iorio finished with 13 points and six rebounds. Brooke Weeks had a team-high seven assists.

Class B PUTNAM VALLEY, the No.3 seed, advanced to the quarters after a 57-12 win over No.14 Rye Neck last Thursday, which also set the program’s single season mark for wins (19).

Junior F Dora Rippon led PV with 14 points, six rebounds, three steals and an assist while C Ny’Asia Reeves and G Arianna Stockinger chipped in nine each, helping the youthful, state-ranked (No.18) Tigers (19-1), winners of 16-straight, advanced to Wednesday’s quarterfinal against No.7 Edgemont.

LAKELAND opened sectional play with a 40-24 victory over Nyack in an out-bracket game as Alexa Cole finished with 11 points. Jess Ascencao added eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds and Sofia Portante contributed seven points.

Claire Felix poured in a game-high 23 points as MAHOPAC won its out-bracket game, 55-42, over Suffern. Siobhan Hynes added 14 points and Zina McInerney added 10 points.

Mahopac coach Chuck Scozzafava said Suffern evened the score at 34-34 late in the third quarter, but the Indians outscored the Mounties, 21-8, the remainder of the game.

League-rival R.C. Ketcham eliminated Mahopac, 56-49, in a first-round game. Felix finished with 18 points, Hynes added 12 points and McInerney chipped in with 10 points.

Mahopac trailed at halftime, 26-23. Ketcham extended its lead to 10 points entering the fourth quarter, outscoring Mahopac, 18-11 in the third quarter.

Ray Gallagher contributed to this story