Girls Hoops Notebook: County Center Here We Come! Ossining, Somers, Panas, Haldane All Fixed on Hoisting Gold Ball

In what might be the strongest showing in recent history, four girls’ basketball programs from the Northern Westchester/Putnam County region will be dancing at the Westchester County Center this week, including Class AA Ossining, Class A Somers and Panas and Class C Haldane.

CLASS A

The culture at SOMERS High School during the 2016-17 school year was standard-bearing before the first dribble of the basketball season. With state championships in football and boys’ soccer, the student athletes in and about Somers had already done something no Tusker had done before. And after last Thursday’s 56-40 Section 1 Class A quarterfinal thrashing of then-defending champion Rye, the second-seeded Somers girls’ basketball team became the first in school history to reach the Final 4 and take the program’s first steps on Section 1’s grandest stage; the Westchester County Center.

And not to be outdone, top-seeded WALTER PANAS will do likewise, working front and center on the same stage as part of the Class A Final after the Panthers defeated No.8 Harrison, 71-65, last Thursday; becoming the first Panas girls’ hoops team since 2003 to make the County Center.

Both will play this Thursday in the Class A semis: Somers (17-5) will face No.6 Tappan Zee at 3 p.m. while Panas faces No.5 Eastchester (4:45 p.m.), which eliminated No.4 Lakeland, 70-56.

Somers took it to No.7 Rye with an array of scorers: Jackie Penzo had three treys but, splitting the Garnets and taking feeds from super soph Hanna Angelini for a team-high 18 points. Angelini, who had 11 points, played one of the most complete games in Class A this season; doing a little bit of everything.

Somers freshmen point guard Dani DiCintio played with the poise of a senior and finished with 13 points while captain Faith Ferguson had eight.

Somers Coach Marc Hattem has proven to be an ideal replacement for former Coach Kristi Dini (Don’t get me started!), as he inherited a ready-for-prime-time unit and blended into the awkward position with the precision of a surgeon.

“We loved Coach Kristi, obviously, and still do, but if we had to lose her Coach Hattem was the perfect replacement,” said junior wing Liv Lipski, the resident sniper at Somers. “It was hard with a new coach coming in, but we love coach (Hattem) just as much as we loved her, and he’s done something crazy for us. This is just the most surreal feeling right now, knowing that we could be the first Somers team in history to do this has made me anxious all day. This is a young team and we’ve never gone through this before, but we’re just gonna keep doing what we’ve been doing all year now: Work together and keep playing basketball the way we know how.

Hattem, to his credit, put it all on his girls.

“These girls had to buy into me,” Hattem said. “But these kids played out of their minds. I’m so lucky. It’s not about the coach. These kids are amazing. Hannah is the Swiss Army Knife; she does a little bit of everything. Liv just works and works to get open and bury big shots. If Dani DiCintio was a senior, that might have been the best game of her life, but she’s a freshman, and for a freshman to play like that… I don’t know if she even had a turnover. She was just incredible.

“We just had to guard them,” he added, “and do what we do, and the girls just did it tonight. It was inspiring to watch. I feel like there’s a culture here now, and we’re a part of it. I was thinking about that today. It is a pleasure to be part of this culture. I’m proud and so happy.”

Angelini, who does so much through superior court vision and instinct, knew the Tuskers were poised to take the next step, but still found it hard to believe.

“It’s surreal,” Angelina said. “Everything we ever worked for has resulted in this, us getting to the County Center Final 4 for the first time in history. I can’t describe it. It just shows the incredible chemistry and talent we have. It’s crazy to be a part of this community right now. Everyone supports everyone. We’re going to work 10 times harder than we have for them and each other, knowing that we can’t let up. We’re not stopping here.”
PANAS had five double-digit scorers in the win: Danielle Merante led the way with 17 points and 10 boards, a legit double-double. Kellie Brown stretched the floor with five 3’s (15 points), and Kristen Kelly (14), Melissa Keefe (12 points, 10 boards), and Carlyn Mucci (11) were all key offensive contributors to the Panthers’ win, its first quarterfinal victory since the Danielle Hood-led Panthers did so 14 years ago.

“I am insanely proud of these girls,” said Panas Coach Matt Evangalista, who returns to the County Center for the first time since winning a gold ball with the Briarcliff boys back in 2007. “They have showed so much heart this year and especially in the last few games. We were having a great year, but when we lost the Giglio Games against Lakeland I think something clicked for these girls. We had Lakeland later that week and the girls played a fantastic game. The intensity was definitely at a new level. Also, their attention to detail and focus really began to sharpen.”

Panas has gone on a six-game winning streak since the Giglio loss. Panas went up 13-4 early and held an 8-10 point lead for most of the game, and the total T-E-A-M concept was evident from the jump.

“This win really proves what I said about the team last week: All five starters finished the game with at least 11 points,” the coach said. “Danielle Merante was a beast around the basket and on the boards. She finished the game with a huge and-1 down the stretch. Kellie Brown’s 3’s were run stoppers when Harrison was making strides. Kristen Kelly did a phenomenal job handling the Harrison pressure an orchestrating the offense. Melissa Keefe was dominating in the post. Carlyn Mucci scored 11 points, but that was not as important and her contributions on the defensive end. Jade Pagel played great off the bench as well. This was a great example of a team being able to defeat the amazing efforts and skills of a couple of great players. This has really been our team story this year: Teamwork!”

CLASS AA

Top-seeded OSSINING punched its ninth-straight ticket to the County Center after a 93-63 thumping of No.9 New Rochelle. UConn-bound senior star Andra Espinoza-Hunter dropped a 37-spot on the Huguenots, and added six rebounds and five assists for the reigning four-time NYSPHSAA champions. Pride C Kailah Harris logged a double-double with 25 points and 10 rebounds. The Pride’s Kelsey Quain added eight points and five boards while Helen Ishmael added 10.

Ossining will play No. 4 Lourdes in the semifinals Thursday at the Westchester County Center at 8:15 p.m.

“We had our first practice Saturday, just an hour of film and an hour on the court; everyone was tuned in and focused and we will be very prepared come Thursday,” Ossining Coach Dan Ricci said of the defending NYS Federation champs, who are ranked No.6 in NYS.

On a side note, Ricci will likely have to go through a pair of Catholic powers – state-ranked (No.12) Lourdes and possibly (No.10) Magnus — to win the Section 1 public school title: There’s little he enjoys doing more. Magnus will face North Rockland in the other semi.

CLASS C

HALDANE (15-5) enters the Class C tournament as the prohibitive favorites, and short of guaranteeing a gold ball, Coach Tyrone Searight is more than optimistic as the guard-oriented Blue Devils were set to open today against No.4 Pawling. The defending champion Blue Devils will be seeking their 10th gold ball in the last 14 years and Searight admitted to have a strong sense of belief in his team accomplishing their mission.

“Oh, we’re ready… more than ready,” Searight said of the state-ranked (No.18) Blue Devils. “I believe in these girls and they have faced a difficult schedule to prepare for this tournament and beyond.”

CHSAA

No.7 KENNEDY pulled off an upset win over No.2 Spellman to move into the CHSAA semifinals. Junior Vanessa Duarte had a game high 25 points or the Gaels and junior C Lisa Cristiano and sophomore point guard Alexis Suarez each had 17 in Saturday’s win.