The 15th Annual Dr. Lynne Kahn Holiday Women’s Basketball Classic
On Saturday December 8, White Plains High School held their 15th Annual Dr. Lynne Kahn Holiday Women’s Basketball Classic, which celebrated the “Queens of the Court” for the six Head Coaches leading their teams in the tournament.
Dr. Lynne Kahn is a former Director of Athletics and Coordinator of Health and Physical Education at White Plains High School. Kahn is responsible for equalizing the number of men’s and women’s athletic teams at WPHS. She is also distinguished for her fundraising initiatives which helped construct the Tigers’ Den Fitness Center.
Mt. Vernon High School’s heralded Head Women’s Basketball Coach Patricia Wallace Moore led the Knights against Pearl River High School’s legendary Head Coach Lorraine Moylan.
Moore in 10 years at Mt. Vernon has won six League Titles, two Section 1 Championships, one Regional Championship and Coach of the Year three times.
Moylan has lead the Pirates for 30 years and won her 500th game last season.
Moylan’s resume includes, six Section 1 Titles and four N.Y. State Regional Championships with two N.Y. State and two Federation Championships.
Moore’s Knights loss to Moylan’s Pirates 69-46 in first game of the Holiday Classic. Pirates Emma Daly and Amanda DeCourcey were high scorers with 14 points each.
The second game of the Lynne Kahn Holiday Classic combined 64 years of Head Coaching. Both The Ursuline School’s Beth Wooters and Irvington High School’s Gina Maher are certainly “Queens of the Court” and Maher adorned the distinction of “Queen Mum.”
Wooters and her Koalas have been the Tigers nemesis for many years, while playing in the same league. Wooters has led Ursuline to 13 League Titles, seven Regional Titles, two N.Y. State Championships and one Federation Championship, during her 28 years at the helm.
Maher has won 565 games against 182 loses in her 37 years as Head Coach of the Irvington Bulldogs. She has captured 17 League Titles, 10 Section 1 Titles, four N.Y. State Championships and three Federation Championships.
Maher was inducted into the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 2012.
Maher’s Bulldogs outlasted Wooters’ Koalas 64-50, to win their fourth straight game without a loss this season. Guard Brittni Lai had a game-high 20 points and forward Alexis Martins scored 18 points.
“This tournament is more than just about basketball. It is all about women sports and about women being strong and doing things later in life,” stated Maher. “I say to the girls that they way you attack adversity on the court is the manner that you will attack life,” articulated the Hall of Fame Coach.
The Dr. Lynne Kahn Holiday Classic also served as the Home Opener for the 2012-13 Tigers Women’s Basketball Team. Tigers Liz Flooks, who was certainly a “Queen of the Court” while playing for White Plains High School (2003-2007) and Niagara University (2007-11), made her home Head Coaching debut.
First year Head Coach Flooks and the Lady Tigers were challenged by Good Counsel Academy and their three-year Head Coach Maura Lynch. Good Counsel won the Catholic High School Athletic Association B League and B Division in 2010. Lynch is also the Athletic Director at Good Counsel Academy.
The Lady Tigers stumbled against their City of White Plains rivals, as the Cougars won 33-23, in the finale of the “Queens of the Court” Tournament.
Junior guard Johanna Levine led the Cougars with 14 points and senior forward Tranisha Gumbs scored eight points. The Tigers were led by senior forward Alyssa Ghilardi with six points and sophomore center Isabella Lacarbonara grabbed 10 rebounds and scored three points.
In a twist of opponents in the tournament, Cougars Head Coach Lynch has a daughter Shannon Lynch, who plays forward for the White Plains Tigers. Shannon scored four points against her mother’s Cougars.
This was the second straight loss for the Tigers who succumb to Woodlands High School 44-25, in their season opener in Greenburgh, on Thursday, December 6. A bright spot for the Tigers is the apparent improvement of six feet-one inch center Lacarbonara. She needs to score more but her agility under the basket and her prowess for rebounding is something Flooks can build around.
The Tigers also have the potential of a formidable inside-out scoring game, if D’Arcy can hit her outside shots and Ghilardi can improve her inside game. However, the Tigers must eliminate their multitude of turnovers which was a direct cause of their losses this season. “Turnovers killed us in the Woodlands game and they did it again today. Taking care of the ball is obviously the key thing we need to improve,” stated Flooks.
