Hen Hud Making Strides; Ossining to Host Ricci Memorial Tourney

State-Ranked No.2 Panas Topples Rival Lakeland

By Tony Pinciaro

HEN HUD did not open its 2024-25 season ideally with only one win in its first five games. The Sailors and senior captain Kaitlyn Raguso were facing an immediate crossroads to their season.

“We were feeling frustrated and overwhelmed on the four-game losing streak, but we had to keep thinking about how this was going to help us later in the season,” Raguso said. “We obviously played some really good teams, but we knew that playing these good teams would help us even more and succeed in the long run. We learned from our mistakes and kept moving onto the next game.”

Once Hen Hud halted its losing streak, the Sailors have been on a tear, winning eight of their last nine games. Their most recent victory was their most impressive – 74-58 over an Ardsley team that is considered one of the favorites in Class A.

“This winning streak is showing us that all of the hard work we have been doing and will continue to do will pay off in the long run,” Raguso said. “Our confidence keeps going up every game and practice, and it’s exactly what we’re expecting.

“The younger girls have been stepping up in every game, and you can tell they feel confident in whatever game it is. The way they have been handling the ball, playing defense and playing as a team is absolutely amazing and what we are looking for.”

Raguso was her usual self against Ardsley with a triple double – 31 points, 16 rebounds and 10 steals. She received support from Kayla McCarthy, who had 16 points and Carleighs Ortiz, who added nine points.

Even though Raguso poured in a game-high 31 points, she said everyone on the team contributed to the win.

“The most impressive part of how our team played against Ardsley was definitely our defense,” Raguso said. “We knew they had a very good ‘big’ and great shooters so we had to protect every part of the court and we did it perfectly.

“The rotation on defense was exactly how we practiced. That being said, it led to our offense that absolutely took over the game. Everyone was contributing in every aspect. Carly (Ortiz) would steal the ball and get a layup. Elysse (Smith) would drive right to the basket and Kate (Stratton) would hit a jump shot. It was a consistent flow throughout the entire game.”

Hen Hud led Ardsley by five after three quarters and outscored the Panthers, 21-10, in the final eight minutes.

One important aspect of this current stretch is that a different player has been stepping up to provide that second scorer behind Raguso each game. And in games against lesser teams, these players have gained confidence by being the first and second options, which has given them confidence.

Hen Hud has a light week playing Sleepy Hollow, Tuesday, before a busy first five days of February with Peekskill (Feb. 5), Ardsley (Feb. 7) and Croton (Feb. 8).

OSSINING improved to 11-4 this season after a wild victory over Horace Greeley (82-79) and triumph of Port Chester.

Despite giving away a double-digit lead, the Pride were not deterred and rebounded to overcome a gritting Quakers team behind the duo of Claire Schnecker and Saniya Bell.

Schnecker finished with 32 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and six steals. Saniya Bell added 28 points and six rebounds and Sophia Torrieri handed out seven assists.

“We’ve been in this situation before with Greeley,” Bell said. “Except, this time we knew what they were going to do to try and put the game in their hands. Last year, we went into double overtime with them off of one play and this year we weren’t going to let that happen again.

“It all came from the preparation and quick thinking of our coach. All the time we all put into film and scouting paid off. We knew the game plan and trusted that we were ready for this moment.”

The Pride had an easy time with the Rams as Bell led the team with 26 points and also added nine rebounds. Schnecker filled out the box score with 24 points, nine rebounds, six assists and six steals. Kinya Green scored a season-high 19 points and also had six rebounds and five assists, Ty’asia Carver added 11 points and eight assists and Torrieri rang up 10 assists.

Ossining will host the annual Pauline Ricci Memorial Classic, Saturday, featuring four games. Ursuline-Tuckahoe will open the classic, 10:30 a.m., followed by North Rockland-Scarsdale (noon), then Tappan Zee-Harrison (1:30 p.m.) and highlighted by Irvington-Ossining (3 p.m.). The Irvington-Ossining game features two of Section 1’s longest-tenured coaches in Gina Maher and Dan Ricci. Ursuline’s Beth Wooters also joins Maher and Ricci with more than 30-plus years coaching at their respective school.

“My mother passed away in July, 2011 and we started a scholarship fund in her name from that moment on,” Ricci said. “The tournament is a way to raise money to provide scholarships in my mother’s name every year. I also started the scholarship to keep my mom’s name alive and that’s what it has done. Every year at this time I get to see and hear her name read or spoken. I also get a thrill every year when I see the people wearing the shirts with her name on it, too.”

VALHALLA registered another impressive win – 62-50 over Blind Brook – behind the trio of Violet and Isabella Mattoni and Giulia Rutigliano.

“It was a great defensive effort in the first half, holding them to 16 points,” Valhalla Coach Dave Berry said. “I believe, and we really emphasized, pushing transition offense. That afforded us a cushion at half to hold off what we knew would be an inevitable push by Kendall Konigsberg. We got great balanced scoring from Giulia and Violet and Bella and pretty much everyone made a play down the stretch. A great overall team effort.”

Violet Mattoni scored a game-high 24 points, Giulia Rutigliano netted 17 points and Isabella Mattoni chipped in 12 points.

HORACE GREELEY played a couple of wild games, dropping one and winning one.

The Quakers fell behind by 18, battled back, but fell short to Ossining (82-79). In their next game, the Quakers outlasted archrival Fox Lane, 78-73, in triple overtime.

“Ossining was a great game and it was fun to be a part of,” Horace Greeley Coach Sara Schum said. “Both teams played so tough. We fought back down 18 to be right there. I’m proud of the way the girls battled back. Georgia Sack and Claire Reynolds shot lights out. As a team, we shot 16 of 32 from three.”

Reynolds poured in a game-best 33 points, Sack added 22 points and Allie Mosca finished with 16 points. Sack scored 18 of her game-high 31 points in the three  overtimes. Mosca contributed 20 points and Reynolds had 12 points.

“Fox Lane was another great game to be a part of,” Schum said. “Both teams showed poise and toughness. We gave up a seven- or nine-point lead at one point. Not one of our best, but props to Fox Lane for fighting back.

“We had two of our starters foul out in the beginning of the first overtime so I was very proud of our girls stepping up in big moments. Georgia (Sack)really came to play in the overtimes. She was confident and just made things happen. Both games , guard Stella Potenza deserves a shout-out for her defensive efforts.”

FOX LANE was led by Cara Drapala’s 22 points. Riley New added 20 points and Morgan Clinton had 16 points.

WHITE PLAINS extended its winning streak to three consecutive games after beating Port Chester (49-33) and Lincoln (54-17).

“We were able to work on some details we need to get better with,” said White Plains’ coach Benj Carter of the Port Chester game. “I like how every team we’ve played so far has been pushing us hard.”

Jade Jackson-Green led the Tigers with 13 points. Austin McKenna added 10 points and Paige Kearon contributed eight points.

“The Lincoln game was a game for us to work on our defensive and offensive details that has been hurting us against the stronger Section 1 teams we have faced so far,” Carter said. “Despite winning three games in a row, it has been beneficial for the team who operates with more confidence and toughness. I think the pressure is off them now.”

PANAS had a light week with one game and it came against intra-district rival Lakeland. The state-ranked (No.2) Class AA Panthers are now riding a six-game winning streak following a 56-30 triumph over the Hornets as Cadence Nicholas scored 20 points, Sophia Tavarez added 18 points and Jill Cinquina netted nine points. Panas, now 14-1, will host Somers (Jan. 30) and play at Lakeland (Feb. 1) this week.

BREWSTER snapped a four-game losing streak with a pair of wins – 54-41 over Poughkeepsie and 60-40 over fellow Putnam County rival Carmel. Lauren Leon and Olivia Francis scored 17 points apiece against Poughkeepsie. Francis followed it up with a game and season-high 21 points against Carmel. Sofia Rosamilia added eight points.

WESTLAKE ran its winning streak to five in-a-row with a 63-52 victory over Pleasantville as Olivia Celaj scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Maggie Plotkin added 15 points as Westlake improved to 4-0 league play.

LAKELAND turned in a strong defensive showing in a 43-27 victory over Yorktown. Young Riley Waters scored a game-high 15 points and Sarah Devane added 11 points. The Hornets then ran into a buzzsaw in their intra-district rival Panas in a 56-30 loss as Waters scored a team-best 18 points.

PLEASANTVILLE split a pair of games, losing to Westlake (63-52), but bouncing back to beat Rye Neck (54-35). Maddie Becerra finished with a team-best 18 points against Westlake. Meghan Raefski added 16 points and Lexi Tomaselli netted 14 points. Pleasantville Coach Dan McGill said Tomaselli set the tone defensively, in the first quarter, against Rye Neck. Becerra led a balanced scoring effort with 12 points, Raefski contributed 11 points and Juliana Karaqi added 10 points.

PEEKSKILL lost a close game to Edgemont (44-41) despite 15 points from Jealina Searight and 11 points from Amari Murphy. The Red Devils did come back in their next game and defeat the Barack Obama School (52-25) as Murphy scored a game-high 26 points and Nai’lah Smalls added 11 points.

CROTON opened its week with a 50-27 victory over Haldane as Johanna Hough scored 13 points and Ava Andrews contributed 12 points. However, the Tigers closed out with a disappointing 48-41 loss to Dobbs Ferry. Earlier this season Croton beat Dobbs Ferry.

ANDY JACOBS PHOTOS